Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Scott LeBrun In a high rise office building in the Netherlands, an elevator repairman named Felix Adelaar (Huub Stapel) is busy trying to solve a mystery. The elevators in this place are now functioning improperly, incapacitating passengers if not killing them outright. Could the cause be some sort of human error, or is something supernatural going on? Felix works the clues in the company of an aggressive, sassy reporter, Mieke de Beer (Willeke van Ammelrooy).Writer & director Dick Maas ("Amsterdamned") deserves some credit for treating his premise with some measure of restraint. Therefore, it won't be to all tastes. It admittedly comes up a little short in the thrills department, with a slow pace and a talky script. Yet, there are fun moments, such as when an unfortunate security guard is decapitated by an elevator. Also, Stapel is an appealing working-class, Everyman sort of hero, and he has some chemistry with the striking van Ammelrooy. They receive able support from players such as Josine van Dalsum (as Felix's wife), Siem Vroom (as a police inspector), and Hans Veerman (as the boss at "Rising Sun", the electronics company working in tandem with Felix's employers).The script does possess some passing interest for the way that it touches upon the subject of technological evolution (with computers that used to fill up entire rooms now becoming much more compact, and the advent of computer chips)."The Lift" is a little light on gore and other exploitable elements, but overall it's fairly entertaining to watch. Maas does pretty well working with the limited budget, and IS expert at crafting suspense, especially the eerie and atmospheric finale with Felix in an elevator shaft. The electronic score (composed by Maas) is likewise a highlight.One of the set decorators is Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., who 28 years later, directed the prequel to John Carpenters' "The Thing".Seven out of 10.

Richard Chatten Having long been wary of lifts, I was already in the right frame of mind to respond appropriately to this enjoyable and engrossing thriller; and as it progressed - as whenever I enjoy a relatively modern film - I paid it the compliment of hoping the ending was going to be up to the rest of the film so far.None of its components are in themselves particularly original ((I personally was reminded of 'Quatermass 2' and the 'Doctor Who' story 'The Mind of Evil', not to mention several earlier thrillers involving lifts; others will doubtless recognise other sources), but like Maas's later 'Amsterdammed' (1988) it has a witty script (including a terrific sight gag early on involving an ambulance), well-drawn supporting characters and a feisty and resourceful heroine. A thriller rather than a horror film (although it delivers a couple of the required shocks), the occasionally vivid use of colour is also worth mentioning.

Leofwine_draca This little Dutch chiller is a cut above the rest due to the director's fine ability to maintain suspense throughout what is in reality, a slow-moving and relatively action-less film. The idea of a killer lift is at once laughable, but the makers of this film get over that hurdle by slowly and surely building up tension as the lift takes every opportunity to destroy anything that comes near it. The basic yet powerful music score (composed by the director, Dick Maas) helps to add to the feel of the film, a feeling of unknown terror and evil.The acting is fine; the dubbing is obvious but doesn't detract in this case. The male lead is more than capable of carrying the role of a lift repair man and is actually quite charismatic; we actually care for him when he's put into danger. The female journalist is surprisingly non-annoying, considering the stereotyped role she fits, and the pair spark together well as an early variation of Mulder and Scully. As for the others, they're more amusing than anything, especially the ill-conceived asylum scene.The deaths here are mainly off-screen, with one notable exception. A guy gets his head jammed in lift doors, and is then decapitated by the descending lift in one of the evillest, most imaginative death scenes I've ever witnessed on film. It's a masterful moment. As for the other deaths, they're kept to a minimum, apart from at the over-the-top finale. It seems that once the nudity and violence has been dispensed with at the opening of this film, it settles back into investigation mode, with plenty of dialogue to keep things moving along. The foreign setting makes a nice change too.The aforementioned finale is actually very good, with Stapel getting involved in some DIE HARD-style heroics while swinging about in the lift shaft. It turns out that all the trouble is the cause of some artificially intelligent computer chips, you could have fooled me! The final twist, where a cable twists out of the lift to wrap around another victim's next, is sped up and actually shocking. Don't be put off by the low budget or the obscure nature of this film, it's not a bad little piece and achieves what it sets out to do.

PeeDee-2 Although I did not particularly enjoy "Amsterdammned" (a similar sort of film), I gave it another shot because I did not want to believe that - as the Dutch themselves often say - the Dutch cinematography in general is just worthless (however, you DO get "tits, sex and throwing up" in most films ;o) ). I have seen "Antonia" and "Character" and enjoyed them both very much. Moreover, living in the Netherlands I wanted to know what a 'cult' movie that the locals consider "the most thrilling Dutch film ever" (4 out of 5 stars in a renowned TV magazine) looks like. Well, to tell the truth, I was nothing but disappointed. Even if I overlook the shaky idea of an 'evil microchip', the predictable direction and the cheap effects, I just cannot overlook the HORRENDOUS acting of the whole cast. They were all in desperate need of some Strasberg classes... All in all, if you want to get a positive picture of the Dutch cinematography, please do NOT waste time rolling your eyes up during this flop!