ridiculous rating

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

A reclusive, blind photojournalist lives quietly in a New York penthouse, until a smooth but sadistic criminal looking for a hidden fortune enters her life. Penthouse North is one of those little films that you're going to find on a Videostore and you're probably going to rent it and personally the first time i watched it i didn't liked it that much. Now the film was on TV today and i said to myself "why the hell not?" right? I mean all movies eventually deserve a 2nd chance and i gotta say this time the film was so much better. I loved the performances by both Monaghan who plays the blind woman who gets captured inside her own apartment and Keaton the ruthless criminal who tries to steal a secret fortune of diamonds. Now you see the movie does have this particular same old, same old kind of moments that all those thrillers have in common but unlike previous films that i have seen Penthouse North tries to do somethings differently for example the whole blind thing at first doesn't really work against her favor until the very end or the 3rd act in general, the villains are pretty good but Keaton is the one who shines the most he brings a lot of energy to this character that he portrays and for once again he shows why he is such a fantastic actor. The final confrontation in the balcony is quite stunning and full of non stop thrills plus there's a terrific reference to both Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). Overall this isn't one of the greatest films of all time not by a long shot but it's definitely way better than previous straight to DVD films and as i said both leading actors are terrific at portraying the characters that have been given to them.

Almost came close to giving it a 6 but I don't really think it has much replay value so I'll just leave it at a five.Got interested in watching this after being pleasantly surprised by Michael Keaton's performance as a hit-man in MERRY GENTLEMAN so I was a little let down when he hadn't shown up in the first 25 minutes, but once he pops up (closer to the 30 minute mark), he becomes one of the key characters in the film.Has a bit of a rough start in terms of truly getting going and feels slightly amateurish but once it gets going it gets decent enough to keep watching, Michelle Monaghan initially felt a little miscast during the war-segments but once she goes blind she feels more natural.And even though Michael Keaton never feels truly threatening his screen-presence speaks for itself and makes it work somehow, it helps that Monaghan portrays her characters fear very well.Barry Sloane is the third lead in the film and he's just okay, not bad but he doesn't come across as terribly menacing either and doesn't have the same star-power charisma that helped Keaton to make his role a bit better than it was.As far as the story goes, we've kinda seen it all before although minor details feel fresh but they could have done so much more with it. Yeah overall not a great movie, but not a complete disaster either.Decent to watch on a slow Sunday afternoon perhaps.

Why You Might Like It: For starters, it was good to see Michael Keaton back on screen and he does a fine job in this movie. Of note, all of the cast put on solid performances. This film is filled with suspense and has a few twists and turns that make it a fairly entertaining film. There are many better films in this genre, but the story is good enough to keep you engaged throughout. Overall, it is a slightly above average thriller/suspense film that is mainly carried by the acting instead of the content itself.Why You Might Not Like It: If movies with a large amount of unrealistic moments bother you, then you should skip this movie. There are many flaws and issues that will bother you if you don't go with the flow and just watch the movie at face value. As mentioned, this movie is fairly average and predictable so you won't be seeing anything outstanding if you choose to watch it. Possibly the most obvious knock is that the lead character's blindness seems to improve as the movie progresses, which is the main reason for much of the unbelievable moments in the film.Acting/Casting: 6.5* Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 5.5*Plot/Characters: 5.5* Entertainment Value: 5.5* Total - 6.5+5.5+5.5+5.5 = 23/4 = 5.75 - Worth a watch

Michael Keaton back in action. Though he's not the protagonist (that is the lovely Michelle Monaghan), he relishes in his role. Seeing him, makes you want to have more of him. And on the big screen. Even his latest output (Robocop - 2014) sees him being one of the best things in there. He has that special charisma.But back to the thriller at hand. A movie that tries to be clever and tries to lure the viewer with a few things. One of them being the back story of our lead. Her back story and another back story lead us straight to the current events of the movie. Though it is pretty solid, the movie never really gives us anything to root for. Even the ending is nothing that should be really surprising.