So I was born in the early 80s and, as a result, I grew up in a time when video rentals were a thing. Back then, if you rented a horror movie, it could fall into one of three categories: Big-budget film that had had a major cinema release, small-budget indie that was made by creative people with limited resources, or small-budget cash grab, made by people who just viewed making films as a way to make some money, with no real creativity or imagination involved; make the box look interesting and someone will pay to watch it.
Movies are distributed differently nowadays but, had it been released back then, The Elevator Game would fall into the latter category.
The plot is formulaic and unimaginative, locking on to a particular idea that the filmmakers thought was current and popular (It's already out-dated). It tries to incorporate modern tropes, such as YouTube videos and influencers, but does it so ineptly that it just shows how little actual knowledge the people at the helm have of these things, resorting to exaggerated and inaccurate stereotypes.
The characters are all stereotypical horror archetypes with zero depth, and the casting of some characters defies belief (why does the "high-school intern" look older than his colleagues?)
The make-up and effects are about the level you'd expect from a mediocre Halloween party.
The acting is generally poor but, to be fair, I think there is some real talent here. The problem is the capable actors are stifled by awful scripting and direction. I won't single anyone out but there are actors in this film who I really can see - and hope I will see - going on to bigger and better things.
Ultimately, this just felt like an unimaginative, made-to-order movie that was created solely to pad out Shudder's library of original films and earn someone, somewhere a few extra bucks.
