The Elevator

This is a very underrated film which was surprisingly good.

Given that this is a low budget film (the title is a give away. 90%+ of the scenes happen inside the elevator, which can feel monotonous but the director/script/actors did a good job to keep my attention throughout.) You are made to choose which of the two characters is the foe and which is the protagonist. The movie does a good job in changing your pick through out the movie. And then there's a twist in the end (or a couple). The final shot is also an excellent touch. It gives some sort of relief that everything worked out as intended. Though some can miss it as it wasn't as pronounced.

Nice movie, well done and not at all obvious. I don't understand why it has an insufficient average

So this is low budget but it is a good find. I'd rather give it a 6.5 rating because it is better than 6 but not quite a 7. This has a limited cast and it is shot mostly in an elevator. I like watching films like this just to see if people can come up with some interesting scenarios for such a tight set. It really isn't too bad. The acting is decent for the most part. It was filmed well and I liked the story. I was a little unsatisfied with the ending but only because I wanted to know more. This worked out just right for my rainy day and nothing to do.

This is obviously not a big movie. It's as low budget as it can be. Now that I watched it, it feels more like a claustrophobic episode of The Twilight Zone.

Movies which don't have the resources to excite otherwise, are often trying to impress with other means like disturbing images or provocative situations.

So... this is a thriller about a mature woman who holds prisoner a well known game-show host inside an elevator. No. It's not a "hostage situation" (if the production had the money for firemen and SWAT teams and negotiators, I wouldn't characterize this as "cheap"). It's more like...well..I won't spoil you...but if you get quickly through the short list of why a 55+ woman could do such a thing...well...soon you will have an idea about what is going on.

But it's not the beginning or the middle of the movie that will impress you. You will get a mental puzzle near the end! What is true and what is not.

Caroline Goodall, the good wife of ...Liam Neeson, Michael Douglas and even Bruce Willis, is the star in this. Despite the fact that she is a trained and experienced actress her performance is only adequate. You get that "crazy" vibe she went for, but in my opinion there was much room for improvement.

Burt Young should had let us remember him from the Rockies. Didn't know James Parks, he is good but he is kind of unattractive to play a wealthy game-show presenter.

Music works well, especially near the end where you will get the actual thrills.

Overall: A Cheap made thriller with OK performances and some plot twists to its last part, but nothing special. If you have time to spare, check it out.

As a critic I indulge myself by scoffing at loopholes in thrillers that could not exist without them. I guess I'm seeking the ideal of a thriller existing entirely in a world of physical and psychological plausibility. "The elevator" is about as close as I'm likely to get. Yes, there are moments when I want to shout advice at the screen, but just as often the characters are ahead of me. They also ask the same questions I'm asking, of which the most heartfelt, in a thriller, is "why didn't we do that?" The movie, directed by Massimo Coglitore and written by Mauro Graiani and Riccardo Irrera, embraces realism almost as a challenge. The movie resembles a chess game; the board and all of the pieces are in full view, both sides know the rules, and the winner will simply be the better strategist. Once we sense "The elevator" isn't going to cheat, it gathers in tension, because the characters are operating out of their own resources, and that makes them the players, not the pawns. The shot combines physical and virtual camera moves, a reminder that Coglitore is a visual virtuoso. He's also a master of psychological gamesmanship.