Retro Film Review: De Flat (1994)

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In the last decade Hollywood, in desperate search for any original idea, turned to Old Continent and many films originally made in France, Denmark or Netherlands got their American versions. However, this process never went in single direction. Lack of stars, budget and other resources didn't prevent European filmmakers from creating their own versions of popular Hollywood films. De Flat a.k.a. House Call, Dutch thriller directed in 1994 by Ben Verbong, is one of such examples.

Protagonist of this film is Roos Hartman (played by Renée Soutendijk), single mother who just moved into the large apartment complex near the sea in order to work as a resident physician for other tenants. Soon she becomes a witness to the gruesome murder of another tenant, but she is unaware of killer's identity. While police suspects her mysterious but good-looking neighbour Eric Coenen (played by Victor Löw), Roos Hartman begins romantic relationship with him. However, after a while some details emerge and Roos begins wondering whether she made a right choice or not.

Even the least experienced viewers wouldn't fail to notice a great deal of similarities between De Flat and Sliver, one of the most underrated erotic thrillers of early 1990s. Director Verbong and writer Jean van der Velde almost shamelessly copy situations, characters and even some particular scenes from Noyce's 1993 film. Naturally, that means that the entire plot development is, more or less, predicatble. To make things even worse, Verbong is not Noyce and Dutch actress Renée Soutendijk is not in the same league as Sharon Stone, so the viewers would quickly lose interest for this film. Because of that, De Flat looks like a cheap and unsuccessful attempt of reaping the fruits of someone else's labour.

RATING: 2/10 (-)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on September 25th 2001)