Across the Hall

The unbalanced Terry (Danny Pino) calls his best friend Julian (Mike Vogel) that is having a bath telling that his beloved fiancée June (Brittany Murphy) is cheating him. Terry has followed her to the decadent Riverview Hotel, where she checked in to meet her lover in room 507. Terry explains to Julian that he brought a revolver to shoot her lover and is waiting for him in room 508, but his friend asks him to be calm that he will meet Terry in the hotel. Surprisingly Julian leaves the bathroom and explains the situation to June in the room in the beginning of a tense and dramatic night.

"Across the Hall" is a dark slow paced thriller in the style of film- noir developed through a non-linear screenplay with many flashbacks. My only remark is the 88 minutes running time that could be a little shorter; anyway the pace magnifies the dramatic situation of the characters. I have really felt sad seeing the last work of the talented and gorgeous Brittany Murphy, who died so young. The music score is another plus in this good film that is neither a masterpiece nor an awful flick as indicated in some reviews but a decent low-budget movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Correndo Contra o Tempo" ("Running Against Time")

It's like a crossword - you can watch it to puzzle a little with the plot. But nothing more. No meaning, no deeper thoughts. Just simple mind-exercise. Very good acting though (Brittany Myrphy especially earns respect here. She adds complexity to her character, and deepens emotional dimension of this rather cold movie), witty directing and editing (it's a debut - bravo!), dark melodic music, and quite smart story, makes this movie... a good crossword.

Cinematography is rather poor though, contrary to what others here claim. Work of cinematographer is not based on choosing the angles and positions for the camera (that's director's part), but rather on choosing lighting for a scene. And this part sucks here - shitty lighting reveals cardboard origin of the sets, and reminds (oh Lord) "Saw" (2004). You can't focus on the actors, because you're constantly afraid of some wall being accidentally pushed to fall over. It COULD be bad work of the lighting team, or insufficient funds, but cinematographer is the one who gets the blame anyway in such occasion.

A nice touch is The Porter character, very nicely (yet a bit theatrically) played by Jamie Benge.

So summing up - very very very good B-movie and not so bad A-movie. Better to see it than not.

Okay being 100% truthful, I expected nothing of Brittany Murphy... I do not dislike her, in fact I rather enjoy her but her roles are often up in the air... NOT HERE. She was good where it mattered here and all characters were believable. Yes, clearly it was a film noir Type horror, some people missed that but seriously, if you wanted a cheesy comedy or perhaps some more unrealistic plot twist a cringe scenes or a fake horror movie with vibrant with colors, perhaps you should've went for Saw or Scary movie. Bottom line it was well made and very suspenseful. Less predictable then the usual horror film. I gave it an 8 in consideration to the category this falls under, A film Noir type Thriller. Tasteful in my opinion, it will seem slow if you are looking for action but if you want deep, suspenseful, well written horror and you have 1 hour and 30 min... Go for it... maybe not on a first date but still worth the watch.

Fun Fact(lol): In any case, well done and for those who missed it, this was a ReMake of a 2005 short film (for those who wanted a shorter version your wish came true). Then got funded and made a full length version (The original June came back as Anna).

there's only one thing i can say about this movie - "WATCH IT"!!

what a great story and great acting. i noticed some of the other reviewers labeled this movie as predictable and boorish. i completely disagree. this movie has great style and personality and a consistency that never changes.

the setting is an old (but once very nice) inner city hotel going to seed and it lends to the story just the level of character needed to support the background of our characters - Julian, Terry, and June. none of these characters come from a desperate or needy background and are most likely normal middle class people that find themselves in a desperate, needy, and dangerous situation. and they are unprepared for the consequences of their actions - maybe!

one more delightful element in this movie is the use of color! a great job in lighting and photography!

I have read many complaints on how this is "boring" and the scenes are dragged out. I can see how many people are not used to intelligent movies (no offense intended) due to the constant action and cheap scares released in theaters these days. THIS is a movie that deserves a theater release. A very intelligent thriller, with a superb cast that tells a very dark story. The 3 main actors, especially Brittany Murphy, really did an excellent job. The story is told in a flashback/memento way and is executed perfectly. I felt all the flashbacks were correctly positioned and the conclusion might not blow you away- but it's pretty damn good. There are numerous twists and turns but the final twist is jaw-dropping. I want more thrillers like this! 10/10