‘Girl on the Third Floor’ is a twisted, disgusting, terrifically-fun haunted-house tale

A review of the 2019 horror film, on Netflix now

In director Travis Stevens’ debut feature Girl on the Third Floor, the sins of the past are never more than a cracking coat of paint away, always throbbing and seething just under the surface of even the most outwardly-pleasant of spaces.

On the surface, this is a pretty straightforward haunted-house tale about a home populated by spirits who have unfinished business. Our protagonist here is Don Koch (ex-wrestler CM Punk), who we meet as he’s fixing up the new home he’s purchased for himself and his pregnant wife. Don promised his wife he wouldn’t drink while he’s fixing up the house, but the empty bottles in the corner just keep piling up, and Don seems to be slowly going insane… because despite his best efforts, the outlets keep oozing and a certain black, gooey spot in the wall continues to weep black goo. Things go bump in the night, shadowy figures walk past doorways in the corner of his vision, and his dog Cooper has a tendency to bark at nothing in particular.

But thanks to Stevens’ sly script (based on a story by Paul Johnstone, Ben Parker, and Trent Haaga), Girl on the Third Floor reveals new layers to its characters just as walls and ceilings collapse to…