Don Koch (Phil “C.M. Punk” Brooks) and his wife Liz (Trieste Kelly Dunn) are expecting their first baby. The couple has purchased a large old house in the suburbs of Chicago, but the inside needs a lot of work. Don decides to take on all of the renovations himself, despite not having any experience, while his wife stays back in the city, but he brings his dog Cooper along for company. When Don first arrives, he meets Pastor Ellie Mueller (Karen Woditsch), who runs the Protestant church across the street. She warns him about the house—a sentiment that is later echoed by bar owner Geary (Marshall Bean), who tells Don that the house has a way of testing straight men. Over a hundred years ago, the house was a brothel where terrible things happened, and the ghosts of the past are said to still haunt the building.

As Don starts on his repairs, he experiences some strange, eerie things. Black goo oozes from pipes and walls, and translucent slime pours out of the outlets and sinks. He hears unexplained noises, and has some vivid, crazy dreams. Don will also see marbles oddly rolling around the house. However, no matter what odd or disgusting things he finds in the walls, he doesn’t let it deter him from his renovation work. Liz often Skypes him to see how things are going, and suggests that she could call in some professionals. But Don has a big ego, and insists that he can do it all himself, only accepting help from friend Milo (Travis Delgado), who had already planned to visit for the weekend.

As the movie progresses, it becomes clear that Don is not a nice, loving husband and father-to-be. He’s cocky and filled with toxic masculinity. The viewer is given hints that there was some kind of controversy back in Chicago that caused him to lose his job, and that Don had some drinking issues in his past—Liz becomes concerned when she sees a beer bottle in the background. Cooper is like Don’s moral compass, barking to not only warn him of the dangers that lurk inside the home, but also when Don is about to make a poor decision. But Don finds it easy to ignore this Jiminy Cricket-like presence. It becomes obvious that Don has a wandering eye—on his morning run, he can be seen rubbernecking some college co-eds, and when the young Sarah (Sarah Brooks) stops by the house to flirt and see if he needs any help, Don wastes no time in inviting her in. And like a vampire who’s received permission to cross the threshold, Sarah keeps popping up, harassing Don and refusing to leave, constantly reminding him of his mistake. As temperatures rise, things escalate, and the true horrors that reside in the home come out—and also bring out the monster inside of Don.

I really enjoyed the first two acts of Girl on the Third Floor. Phil Brooks is quite good in this role, which appears to be his first film. He really sells Don as this toxic guy way in over his head, who refuses to accept help from anyone lest it tarnish his big ego. Many times he’s offered the opportunity to make the proper moral choice, and he chooses poorly. He’s so cocky and full of himself that he just does what he wants and doesn’t care about the consequences. The film does a really nice job of slowly building up the mystery and suspense, while giving hints as to the monsters and ghosts that reside in this haunted house. The film is beautifully and creatively shot—the house itself is a character, and the filmmakers makeng use of some interesting views from inside the walls and cabinets as Don tears through the home.

That said, I found the third act to be a little disappointing. In its final act, the film turns into a gross-out gore fest as things take a crazy turn. The first two acts are predominantly about Don, with Liz only appearing via Skype conversations, but she plays a much more prominent role in the film’s final act. This third act almost felt like a different film, and Liz’s actions and decisions seemed a bit odd and didn’t make logical sense. But even though the film didn’t stick the ending for me, I think there is enough there to please horror fans.

Dark Sky’s Blu-ray release provides solid video and audio presentations. The picture is clean and nicely captures all the beauty and creepiness of this stately old home. The detail is great, both in the brighter daytime scenes as well as the darker, creepier nighttime scenes. The special effects and gore are well done. The audio track is also quite good, utilizing the surround channels to accentuate the creepy creaks and thuds from around the house, the screeching doorbell, and the hard core music that Don listens to in his earbuds. Dialogue also remains clear throughout the film.

The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover or a digital copy. The only bonus material is an audio commentary by the writer/director/producer, plus the film’s trailer and teaser trailer. The insert in the case is reversible, with the alternate view shown below:

What’s Included:

Film: (1:32:00)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 PCM Lossless
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• Commentary with Writer/Director/Producer Travis Stevens (1:32:00)
  Writer/Director/Producer Travis Stevens provides an interesting and informative scene-by-scene commentary throughout the film. He discusses the central themes of the film, describes the choices he made while writing the script, and shares lots of behind-the-scenes stories about the production. He also talks about the real-life haunted house they used for the production, and how they utilized a lot of this “set” just as they found it. He discusses casting Phil Brooks in the role, and talks about the special effects—such as controlling the marbles, how the secretions for the house were done, and more.
• Trailer (2:18)
• Teaser (:53)

Final Thoughts:

Girl on the Third Floor is a pretty solid first-time directing effort for Travis Stevens and acting effort for Phil “C.M. Punk” Brooks. It is quite beautifully and creatively shot, and builds some nice tension in the first two acts. The final act didn’t quite work for me, but I think horror fans will still enjoy checking this out. Dark Sky’s Blu-ray provides solid picture and sound, and an interesting commentary from the writer/director.