Elevated

Canadian director Vincenzo Natali is an expert at getting more out of less. The short film Elevated is a prime example. It manages to do more with its 25 minutes than many films can do in 2 hours. The story follows three people confined in an elevator avoiding the monsters in the building that are stalking them. The only problem is that only one of them believes in the monsters, the other two just want off. The tension grows until it finally explodes and only one is left standing. The entire short is filmed using only a single set piece, yeah one, thats right. Rumor has it that when Natali filmed Cube he also used only a single set. And if you've seen the film you can see how it could be done. So if you have the chance to see this short don't waste any time, because if you do it'll probably be over. Check IFC it plays on there from time to time. 10/10 My highest praise!

Actually I have no idea how much this cost, but in terms of location economy you can't beat a lift, a corridor and a car park! This short has distinctive characters, humour, paranoia, gore and a double-barrel twist, plus it comes in at under 20 minutes - very restrained. It also underlines (or foreshadows, I suppose) why David Hewlett has gone on to make a well deserved niche for himself. He gets far and away the best line, one to be only truly appreciated by real cult horror/sci-fi fans no doubt - the specifics went over my head even if the meaning and delivery didn't. Elevated found its way onto a French (or at least French-language) DVD release of CUBE, along with a nice variety of Cube extras incidentally, and was well worth the price alone. Go on, seek it out...

I saw Elevated and was immediately reminded of a movie I had recently enjoyed, Cube. After a check on IMDB, I was pleasantly surprised to find out they both had the same director. Like Cube, Elevated is a movie that bears thinking about in the days after the viewing. I'd recommend it to anyone who liked Cube, as well as movies like Dead Calm, and Death and the Maiden, which have a small cast and limited set changes.

Two people get into a lift and are met by a madman who claims the monsters from the ALIEN movies are taking over the block . What can two people alone in a lift with a madman do to protect themselves ?

It's said if you have a zero budget for a movie you can still write a script featuring three people in a lift . Guess what ? ELEVATED has a zero budget and features three people in a lift . Well maybe that's slightly untrue because a car park and a few walk ons appear in the last scene but this is a pretty good example of what can be done with no budget . The story itself is absolute nonsense and like most horror shorts we the audience are given no explanations whatsoever as to how the events came about but this doesn't really diminish the film itself , after all many short films are made for the simple reason to get the director and writer noticed at film festivals

I saw ELEVATED for the first and only time several years ago when it was broadcast on channel 4 . The fact that I could remember the title and be able to write a review off the top of my head says something about its quality

This short tells the exact same story as Cube. I liked Cube for the cute trick of having one set for the whole movie. But after seeing this I wonder if Natali actually has anything to say.

People seem to be OK with being left to imagine a lot, but here you really have to imagine everything. There is virtually no plot apart from the movements of the actors. The dialogs are pointless and repetitive and the acting is not really convincing (like in Cube) but this is a small budget short.

We are left with nothing as for the reality of the "aliens", the motives of the guy in the suit and of Ben's. Only the woman seems to be like some sort of office clerk who may well be a normal person trying to go home. Apart from the killing of Ben we don't have a clue as for what is going on, just people stuck in an elevator.

Leave it to our imagination? I wonder after seeing Elevated and Cube if Natali will ever have more than one idea.

I'll have to see Cypher...