The Fifth Floor Blu-ray

We have started a Patreon page with the hopes that some of our followers would be willing to donate a small amount to keep DVDBeaver alive. We are a tiny niche, so your generosity is vital to our existence.

We are talking about a minimum of $0.10 - $0.15 a day, perhaps a quarter (or more) to those who won't miss it from their budget. It equates to buying DVDBeaver a coffee once, twice or a few times a month. You can then participate in our monthly Silent auctions.

To those that are unfamiliar, Patreon is a secure/verified third-party service where users can agree to a monthly donation via credit card or PayPal by clicking the button below.

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Howard Avedis
USA 1978

A young woman (Dianne Hull, Aloha Bobby and Rose) collapses on the disco dance floor from what’s revealed to be strychnine poisoning. Assuming a suicide attempt, her boyfriend (John David Carson, Pretty Maids All in a Row) and her doctor have her committed to The Fifth Floor, an asylum with obviously crazy inmates, including Benny (Robert England, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Great Smokey Roadblock) and a predatory orderly Carl (Bo Hopkins, Killer Elite). The problem is, she’s still sane – and her ordeal is just beginning. Also starring Anthony James (Texas Detour), Mel Ferrer (The Great Alligator), Julie Adams (Creature from the Black Lagoon), Sharon Farrell (Sweet Sixteen) and Patti D’Arbanville (Modern Problems).

***

With a cast sure to please cult and horror fans alike, this pseudo-women's-prison film from director Hikmet Avedis is a good bet for genre followers. Pretty Dianne Hull plays Kelly McIntire, a disco bartender who is poisoned as part of a botched murder scheme and sent to a mental hospital. Once there, she is raped by evil orderly Carl (Bo Hopkins), witnesses murders and suicides, and eventually escapes only to be dragged screaming back to the horrors of the fifth floor. Cathey Paine, who played Leslie Van Houten in Helter Skelter, is among the many familiar faces, which also include such horror icons as Robert Englund and Michael Berryman. But the film belongs to Bo Hopkins, who is all smiling menace and who turns in a scary performance and gives the film what force it has, as screenwriter Meyer Dolinsky puts Hull through some rather unconvincing maneuvers in the lead. Still, although there are a number of lapses in logic, they don't detract from the frightening premise that almost any statement or action could be construed as a sign of dementia in the proper circumstances.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: November 15th, 1978

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Review: Code Red - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Code Red - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:30:34.791
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 23,635,599,334 bytes Feature: 21,340,342,272 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1780 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1780 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Code Red 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 23,635,599,334 bytes Feature: 21,340,342,272 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Interview with star Bo Hopkins (08:27) • TV Spots (01:05) and other Code Red trailers (Street Law 00:29, The Dark 02:34, Mutant 01:26, The Power 01:41, Beyond the Door 03:12) Blu-ray Release Date: November 13th, 2018 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Code Red Blu-ray (May 2019): Code Red release the 1978 thriller "The Fifth Floor" on a single-layered disc. The 1.78:1 1080p image looks a little rough, which only emphasizes the sleazy, low-budget griminess. Darker suspense scenes almost benefit from the terrible contrast levels, surrounding the terrified heroine with a daunting, uniform crushing black. When scenes aren't almost uniformly black, the asylum's white and teal colors abound. The video has only a supportive bitrate. The image is inordinately flat with no depth whatsoever. This is by no means a high transfer, looking very video-like - although I can only assume fans of this low-budget thriller wouldn't be expecting anything too dynamic.

The opening "Fly Away" disco number lets you know right away that this isn't going to be your typical thriller. Sadly, much like the questionable image quality, this 2.0 24-bit DTS-HD Master Audio track is in rough shape. This is possibly how the film originally sounded in theatres (before footage was cut and it aired on television). There are scenes where characters seem to be mumbling, and the underlying hissing doesn't help. To help distinguish the dialogue, there are English subtitles (yellow, thank god, for white ones would probably disappear in the white background) on this Region 'A' Blu-ray from Code Red. Also notable here is a score from a new-on-the-scene Alan Silvestri!

Aside from some TV spots for the film and some Code Red trailers (for Street Law, The Dark, Mutant, The Power, Beyond the Door) the sole extra here is an 8-minute interview with star Bo Hopkins in a noisy restaurant. Hopkins discusses the various troubles of the film's production (shooting all night and into the morning), and though it can be hard to hear him at times, it is nice to have this brief interview with the actor.

Featuring a brief appearance from a young Robert "Freddy Krueger" England, "The Fifth Floor" is a very, very dated and over-the-top thriller featuring some brilliant histrionics from its cast. Bo Hopkins, Mel Ferrer also appear in this low-rent wrongly-committed-to-the-asylum (or is she?) thriller. "The Snake Pit" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" this is not. Worth checking out, to fans of late 70s thrillers.