The Daily Dig: The Lift (1983)

A ridiculous premise plays out in “The Lift” with sloppy storytelling—as if Jason became a series of cables, pulleys, and a metal box.

A porter is called in to fix an elevator that seems possessed to maim its riders. Let’s dig into 1983’s THE LIFT, directed by Dick Maas!

As I See It

Giving a little bit of leeway for the dialogue because of translation isn’t enough to make up for the inadequacies in storytelling.

I suppose choosing the elevator repairman as the protagonist felt natural when writing the script. Who is going to know how to vanquish the beast (lift) better than a man who knows how it works inside and out? Unfortunately, there wasn’t much more validation for the choice beyond that. It’s loose, and the dialogue even becomes contradictory: “Someone almost died in the lift last night. Probably nothing serious.”

There’s a bit of practical effects work going on with a severed head and some fun lighting and haze. We also get some requisite heavy petting in the elevator in the opening as the first victims are taught a lesson by the murderous machine for their fornication.

First, it’s story time! I had a near-death experience in an elevator.

I worked at a municipal building that was constructed in the nineteen fifties, and the four-passenger cars were installed at the same time. Almost sixty years later, I’m riding down from the sixth floor for lunch, and my fellow passengers include a couple of co-workers as well as a young family with a two-year-old boy. As is proper, the family with the child got off first, and as they did, the car bounced a bit.

The last coworker beside me hopped off quickly behind them, and as I went to do the same, the elevator shot upwards like a rocket, with the doors open. I had the fortunate wherewithal to throw myself backward and then got a terror ride as it went all the way up to six and then went into a free fall. Luckily, it didn’t crash into the bottom, but it kept yo-yoing up and down between floors while I slammed buttons and the emergency stop.

It finally came to rest between the second and third floors, with enough space for me to run and leap into someone’s outstretched arms. I never rode the elevator again; every day, I would walk up and down to the sixth floor.

Much like the greedy capitalist character in this film, the administration decided my experience wasn’t an issue and let the elevator go back into service within an hour.

Other archetypes hit upon in this film include the all-knowing detective, our blue-collar repairman, and the nosy reporter. It’s all a simple formula that needs only to be plugged into the horror and blood of an eighties genre flick. Doesn’t seem so hard, right?

Ironically, it’s when the dialogue stops that this film really hits stride. The scenes with Felix (the repairman) in the shaft, hanging from cables and discovering the “heart” of the elevator’s malfunction is well paced and becomes a surprisingly well executed depiction of good vs. evil, regardless of how ridiculous the evil is.

Famous Faces

Unless you’re familiar with Dutch actors from the nineteen eighties, I don’t think you’ll recognize anyone. I didn’t.

Of Gratuitous Nature

Every slasher requires a sinner. Our killer must remove all those fornicators from the population. The elevator makes short work of our horny, opening group of revelers.

Heartthrob

For a 1983 film, it has a beautiful look. The lighting and cinematography are quite underrated. That purple glow is always ominous.

Ripe for a Remake

Already done, and nothing was improved. Pass.

Spawns

Not every filmmaker gets a chance to take their first film and remake it with (soon-to-be) stars. Dick Maas got that chance. The Shaft, titled Down on Shudder and every region outside the US, starred Naomi Watts just before she exploded with David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and the remake of the Japanese horror The Ring.

Where to Watch

Blue Underground released a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack in 2017, which is available from Grindhouse Video. You can stream it on Shudder, Tubi, AMC+, and Night Flight.