Abwärts (1984)

It's Friday evening. The lift repairman leaves the building and wants to finish his work on Monday. But he doesn't know there are four men in the building. They use the lift but stay in it ... See full summary »

Director:

Carl Schenkel

Writers:

Frank Göhre (additional dialogue), Carl Schenkel

Stars:

Renée Soutendijk, Götz George, Wolfgang Kieling

8 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Renée Soutendijk	...	Marion
Götz George	...	Jörg
Wolfgang Kieling	...	Gössmann
Hannes Jaenicke	...	Pit
Klaus Wennemann	...	Heinz
Ralf Richter	...	Otto (as Ralph Richter)
Jan Groth	...	Security Guard
Kurt Raab	...	Elevator Maintenance
Ekmekyemez Firdevs	...	Cleaning Lady
Luce Rains	...	Detective (as Steven Hartley)
Hans Schwögler	...	Undertaker

Storyline

It's Friday evening. The lift repairman leaves the building and wants to finish his work on Monday. But he doesn't know there are four men in the building. They use the lift but stay in it about 100 meters from the floor. They have little oxygen and must survive...

---

Plot Keywords:

quartet | claustrophobia | psychotic | human relationship | weekend | 

---

Taglines:

6.30PM - Friday evening in an empty office building. Three men and one woman, trapped and terrified, 25 floors up. Help will reach them Monday morning - if they live that long.

---

Genres:

Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

1 November 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Out of Order

Filming Locations:

Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion, Laura Film, Maran Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Anke: Anke, ich steh' total auf Machos (2000)

User Reviews

Four people in a lift

What sounds interesting in the first place, is the theme of the movie: Four people get stuck in a small lift. The question I asked immediately when I read this was: Can a movie that has only one setting be gripping and eventful? The answer is: Yes, it can! It only can. The movie is well directed and the lift is photographed from all views you can imagine. Still, all the directing ideas are used up now, there cannot be any new lift movie.

Unfortunately, in order to create a thriller full of action and suspense, they had to write a most unrealistic screenplay, full of coincidences and stupid twists. It's a pity, but obviously it shows that getting stuck in a lift is not suitable for filling a whole evening.