Elevator

Nine diverse people get stranded in an elevator of a corporate building after the head honcho's spoiled daughter hits the emergency button. Soon a person with a makeshift bomb makes his or her devious intentions known.

This movie, while filled with movie clichés, still manages to be somewhat tense and pretty watchable due to fairly competent acting from almost everyone involved (I personally didn't care for either the kid nor Joey Slotnick, the latter I can't recall anything good he's been in). It's not the best movie about people stuck in elevators but it's not the worst either.

"I've been taking this elevator everyday, ten times a day, we all have for six years and it's never once gotten stuck." A group of people on their way to a party for work are starting to pile in an elevator. When the limit is reached they begin the ascent to the top floor. Tensions start almost instantly and when the elevator gets stuck in between floors things get worse. While talking to each other the discover that one of them has a bomb. They now have another reason to try and find a way out, fast. I know not many people do, but I really like these movies that take place in one confined area. There is something tense and terrifying about that. This one is no exception. Much like the movie "Devil" this one takes place in an elevator but instead of being a straight horror movie this one is more dramatic and full of tension. The characters are all interesting and believable. Some of the movie is a little out there, but overall a pretty believable movie. Overall, if you like movies like "Devil" or "Buried" then you will like this one too. I did. I give it a B+.

I got to see this one on it's world premiere yesterday, at the Tromso International Film Festival. Not knowing what I could expect from this hardly known Norwegian director, Stig Svendsen, I was still hoping to see a nerve wrecking thriller about modern day terrorism. The film started out as expected, but it seemed very unoriginal at first. The main characters seemed too familiar and too smooth. Additionally I found a couple of the actors weren't any good. But as the film got going, it turned out this wasn't at all a dead serious thriller. A couple of really watchable characters showed up, and the scripted turned humorous, in a quite successful way.

The film goes on as a rare mix of comedy and thriller, that actually works brilliantly. The filmmakers have successfully combined a serious situation with humor, and the result is one crazy elevator ride. It owes a lot to traditional action comedy films, but at the same time it really is something of it's own. It's rare to see such entertaining films and especially films about such a relevant topic.

So this gem is now available on Netflix and I recommend it. Well acted and pretty well paced little film about a group of strangers (well a few know each other but I will not say how) that get on an elevator. By interesting means, the elevator gets stuck and from there, the film really takes off as the group is in severe danger.

The cast of characters are perfectly suited for this kind of film. A little something for everyone if you will.

Being slightly claustrophobic myself, I felt the tension in the elevator. The characters really play off each other well (especially the wise-cracking comic and the snotty little girl)and you sense that once you figure out the trouble, that it seems genuine and real. A very short movie (a little over an hour and 15 minutes long), the last 10 minutes really were not needed, I think it was just added to make the length of the movie more industry standard acceptable. A fast catchy beginning sets an early pace that never really dulls.

6.25 out of 10. Good enough for a watch and some popcorn.

Look at the title. You see that one word title, now tell me, what do you expect from a movie like that? I actually think it provides exactly what it is supposed to. Maybe a bit more. Not a lot more, but I did like the (obvious) characters. It's not amazing or earth shattering, but it is more than decent.

A few things are over the top of course, but still kudos to the actors, they did a good job on this. Things are predictable of course, but that doesn't change the fact, that you can enjoy the movie as it is. The inciting incident is of course something that would drive everyone mad in real life. Try to take the movie in, as it was intended if you can