COURTYARD, THE

The charming Shangri-La courtyard apartments are described as “Paradise on Earth.” But they are actually the setting for a catalogue of bizarre and sinister activities.

Architect Jonathan Hoffman (Andrew McCarthy), a New York transplant, is welcomed to Los Angeles with all the perks: spacious digs at the Shangri-La, and a new BMW with a phone. He also has the luck to meet beautiful, free-spirited Lauren (Madchen Amick).

Soon, though, there’s a murder in the building, and the victim is Lauren’s brother Albert, a rock guitarist billed as Mr. Pizza. Who’s the prime suspect? Almost any of the laid-back eccentrics at Shangri-La could be a candidate.

The possibilities include the overbearing Russian emigre landlord Ivan and his brother Boris. Also Kimberly, the argumentative blonde; a brooding recluse called Bartlett the Dog Man; Jack, the free-lance crime reporter, and prim Mrs. Fitzgerald, who waters dead plants.

These tenants seem unfazed by the vanishing tenants and strange sounds and screams that resonate through Shangri-La. But Jonathan, who discovered that paradise has its pitfalls, can’t rest until the strange happenings are explained and the murder is solved.