L'ascenseur (niveau 2)

It amazes me how often deliberately cheesy, tongue-in-cheek horror films are misconstrued as poorly made garbage. Down (AKA The Shaft), director Dick Maas' 2001 remake of his own 1983 Dutch horror De Lift, opens with the camera gliding gracefully over the NY skyline to eventually come to rest on 'The Millennium Building' where two night watchmen use an observation telescope to spy on big-breasted hookers at work in a neighbouring skyscraper; it's a superbly executed and wonderfully trashy opening that should make it crystal clear that Maas knows exactly what he is doing—making a highly entertaining, campy schlock/horror that shouldn't be taken seriously—and yet there are still those who seem to have missed the joke.

Oh well, it's their loss, because when viewed as intended, Down proves to be a lot of fun, packed as it is with outrageously silly deaths, delightfully daft dialogue, and knowingly clichéd characters—precisely the kind of stuff I would expect to see in a horror film about a murderous 'living' elevator controlled by a malevolent state-of-the-art computer chip enhanced by living brain tissue.

An excellent cast clearly have a blast in their two-dimensional stock roles, with a gorgeous pre-A-list Naomi Watts as a feisty newspaper reporter, James Marshall as a cocky elevator engineer, Ron 'Hellboy' Perlman as the shady owner of the elevator company, Dan Hedaya as a grizzled NY detective, and Michael 'Scanners' Ironside as a loathsome scientist hellbent on perfecting his pet project, whatever the cost. Maas keeps the action moving along at a brisk pace, handling the special effects set-pieces, wry humour, and gruesome shocks with confidence, even going so far as to kill off women, children, and animals along the way.

And if all that isn't enough to pique your interest, let's not forget about the eerily prophetic scene in which characters discuss the possible use of a plane in a terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre; with 9/11 just around the corner, it stands out as a genuinely chilling moment in an otherwise intentionally ridiculous and wonderfully OTT piece of nonsense.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Down (2001) AKA "The Shaft", based on a previous Shaft movie.

"What goes up must come down."

I saw this critter as "Down" like a Stephen King ditty. It starts very plausible, then turns strange, then downright spooky.

You can pretty much tell what the movie will be about and how it will end. So, the fun comes from watching the different characters go through their experiences as they try to figure out what's going on with the elevators. Is it just poor maintenance and imagination? Is it a cabal of Luddites? The movie was made too close to 9-11.

At least it is not the disaster formula with a scientist being kicked out for rocking the boat. Then again? I did not mind when the elevator consumed this one and that one, but did he have to take the little dog too?

This is a B-movie, no matter what anyone says, Naomi Watts does NOT make this movie an A movie, its defintly a B-Movie. Its about a killer elevator! I'll say that again: A killer elevator! Not a psycho killer, or some ghost or supernatural force, no its a killer elevator! How did this ever get made? I wonder if Namoi Watts still keeps this on her resume. There is some weird convoluted plot that they never fully explain how the government was expiermenting on bio-metal or something so stupid that it is never fully explained. Is this supposed to be a scary movie? Its very hard to write ten lines that is required to describe how crappy this movie is.

Dutch director Dick Maas has essentially remade his own 1983 film De Lift with 2001's The Shaft (originally entitled Down), about an evil elevator system that suddenly begins killing people in a fancy-schmancy skyscraper. Artisan has shamelessly redesigned the cover art to resemble The Ring, and to highlight the presence of star Naomi Watts, though who that kid on the cover is supposed to be is really anyone's guess, because he is certainly not in the movie I watched.

In between the dull investigative drivel, Maas delivers a few fun horror moments, including a spectacular elevator door decapitation and a fun bird's-eye P.O.V. of a character's leap off the observation deck. Maas even subjects an elevator full of very pregnant women to a terrifying ride.

With the exception of a few establishing shots, it appears that much of The Shaft was shot in Europe, and the unconvincing "New Yawk" accents of most of the extras is definitely giggle-worthy. To Maas's credit, he has somehow managed to fill the film with a decent blend of familiar faces in supporting roles, including Edward Herrmann (the building manager), Dan Hedaya (a police lieutenant), Ron Perlman (the elevator repair company boss) and venerable bad guy Michael Ironside.

There are brief moments of great fun in the murderous elevator flick, The Shaft, but too much time is spent talking and the dramatic payoff is a real eye-roller, even in B-movie horror terms. Artisan has supplied a solid 5.1 surround track, but the horribly cropped 1.33:1 fullframe transfer almost negates that.

Yep, The Shaft has its ups and downs.

6*(10* Rating System)

It all begins with a sweeping, awe-inspiring shot of The Millennium Building, one of New York City's premier hotels, housing all of 100-some odd floors. We zero in on two goombah bellboys spying on an old man and two old-looking women boinking in a highrise across the street; this scene brings to mind Brian De Palma's "Body Double," and the decent production values mixed with aforementioned homage give the viewer an (admittedly misleading) impression of what's to come. While fully aware of the (admittedly deserved) bad reputation most DTV efforts have, "The Shaft" at least starts off with promise. Writer-director Dick Maas (remaking his 1983 Dutch original, "The Lift") has a knack for framing scenes, building suspense, and keeping his camera firmly in the moment. The problem is, his script is a muddled misfire, never quite settling on a solid path; the result is an accidental bending of sci-fi, horror, and flat-out action that never gels as well as it should. After an elevator in the Millennium knocks off a bunch of victims in extravagant fashion, the plot devolves into a drawn out (and ultimately unsuccessful) search for The Truth--suddenly elevator repairman James Marshall (imagine a cut-rate Brad Pitt) and fetching reporter Naomi Watts (pre-"Mulholland Drive") are standing in for Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe, turning this into "El.A. Confidential." And in the final act, Maas spins the film into the outer limits of absurdity with a Michael Bay extravaganza of stunts and explosions, throwing in some references to Osama bin Laden and terrorism (pre-9/11!) for good measure. Save for Watts' lead role, most of the big names on the video box (including Ron Perelman, Dan Hedaya, Edward Herrmann, and Michael Ironside) are relegated to smaller 'guest appearances' (though every little bit helps). Big names aside, the premise is stretched so thin that you'll be hard-pressed to care about anything by the time the noisy climax rolls around. "The Shaft" takes a concept with genuine horror potential and transforms it into a bowl of cold oatmeal.