Elevator Game

Again with this tacky social media challenge/investigator horror movie formula. Shudder wiffed on this one. The setup in the first few minutes was probably the best part, and that's not saying much. The next 30-45 minutes of a bunch of social media hucksters banter back and forth is quite dull. I was not interested in anything they had to say, and no interest watching them stumble through their pitiful plight on their devices. Sometime after that we get a frightening scene, more pointless dialogue, and then we get to watch someone sift through web pages for a while.. and then I think I dozed off. I gave it a star for some ok-but-sparse tense scenes, but I couldnt come up with anything else worth mentioning. Bottom of the barrel stuff for Shudder flicks.

I enjoyed this from well enough so would certainly suggest it's worth 90 minutes of your time. It's well put together and the cast are pretty committed. There's some decent effects and a few moments of real tension and creepiness, though I think the solid premise could have been exploited better.

What let's the film down a little, for me, is seemingly rushed characterisation and pretty tame finale. I'd have been tempted to lean further into the gore in this one too.

Overall, it's a good slice of fun with some good laughs and a couple of creepy moments, but one that could have been much better given its decent collection of parts.

Elevator Game is a film whose story is based on an internet creepypasta legend that originated in Japan and South Korea.

The legend states that if you use an elevator to travel to a series of floors, in a specific order...upon reaching the fifth floor...a mysterious woman will enter.

You can neither look at, nor speak to this woman...less she pull you into her realm.

After reaching the fifth floor...you hit the button for the first floor...and if you go up...towards the tenth floor...upon reaching said floor...you open a portal to her realm.

One much like our own, though where there is no electricity...and a red cross can be seen in the sky.

Hence it being called "The Red World" in the film.

To get back...you must go to the same elevator, and repeat the process...though...upon heading toward the tenth floor, you must interrupt the process by hitting a button for a floor between the one you are on, and the tenth floor.

This should, in theory, return you to your own dimension.

If the process is interrupted by someone else entering the elevator, prior to reaching the tenth floor...you must immediately return to the first floor...and not look back.

Such are the rules of The Elevator Game.

For the most part, the film remains true to these rules.

However they take some artistic liberties of their own.

By having the "Fifth Floor Woman" rip you apart if you break the rules, for example.

Going into this, I fully expected it to be stupid.

And it is.

But I actually kind of enjoyed it.

It's definitely the type of horror that is tailored towards adolescents, and the youtube generation.

I think, ideally, it would have worked better as a short film.

But, for what it is...it actually kind of works.

Which is substantially more than I expected from it.

So colour me pleasantly surprised.

4 out of 10.

So I was born in the early 80s and, as a result, I grew up in a time when video rentals were a thing. Back then, if you rented a horror movie, it could fall into one of three categories: Big-budget film that had had a major cinema release, small-budget indie that was made by creative people with limited resources, or small-budget cash grab, made by people who just viewed making films as a way to make some money, with no real creativity or imagination involved; make the box look interesting and someone will pay to watch it.

Movies are distributed differently nowadays but, had it been released back then, The Elevator Game would fall into the latter category.

The plot is formulaic and unimaginative, locking on to a particular idea that the filmmakers thought was current and popular (It's already out-dated). It tries to incorporate modern tropes, such as YouTube videos and influencers, but does it so ineptly that it just shows how little actual knowledge the people at the helm have of these things, resorting to exaggerated and inaccurate stereotypes.

The characters are all stereotypical horror archetypes with zero depth, and the casting of some characters defies belief (why does the "high-school intern" look older than his colleagues?)

The make-up and effects are about the level you'd expect from a mediocre Halloween party.

The acting is generally poor but, to be fair, I think there is some real talent here. The problem is the capable actors are stifled by awful scripting and direction. I won't single anyone out but there are actors in this film who I really can see - and hope I will see - going on to bigger and better things.

Ultimately, this just felt like an unimaginative, made-to-order movie that was created solely to pad out Shudder's library of original films and earn someone, somewhere a few extra bucks.

Another unimaginative, sub-mid shovel-ware movie. Nothing really stands out, the acting was lethargic and absolutely nothing stood. This is the kind of movie you throw out when you are vacuuming and folding laundry. That's probably the best thing I can say about it.

This movie feels like another low-effort offering for 12 to 14 year olds that want to get into Horror movies and this movie will gently hold their hand and ease them into things. The antagonist is simply called "The 5th Floor Woman", and that's fine. I didn't really care to invest enough brain cells thinking too hard about how this movie pandered to kids who think the Back Rooms or Slenderman are scary.

I call this kind of offering "Sesame Street Horror" because it basically spoon feeds you mild jump scares for an hour and a half.