De lift (1983)

Director:

Dick Maas

Writer:

Dick Maas (writer)

Release Date:

4 July 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Take the stairs, take the stairs. For God's sake, take the Stairs!!!

Plot:

A lift begins displaying some erratic behavior, like trapping some party goers and nearly suffocating them...

Plot Keywords:

Breasts | Lunch | Elevator | Breast Suckling | Journalist

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Huub Stapel	...	Felix Adelaar
Willeke van Ammelrooy	...	Mieke de Beer
Josine van Dalsum	...	Saskia Adelaar
Liz Snoyink	...	Vrouw in Lift
Wiske Sterringa	...	Vrouw in Lift
Huib Broos	...	Man in Lift
Pieter Lutz	...	Man in Lift
Johan Hobo	...	Ober
Dick Scheffer	...	Gérant
Matthias Maat	...	Ober
Ger van Groningen	...	Ober
Jan Anne Drenth	...	Nachtportier
Emma Onrust	...	Dochertje
Sydney Kuyer	...	Zoontje
Cor Witschge	...	Dagportier

Also Known As:

The Lift (Philippines: English title)
Goin' Up

Runtime:

Argentina:99 min | Sweden:99 min | USA:95 min | Netherlands:95 min

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 (1984) | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands

Company:

First Floor Features

Trivia:

The scene where the security guard is decapitated by the elevator was shot several times, that's why the head that falls down the shaft is smudged and disfigured.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the guard's head is "beheaded" by the elevator, it is clearly visible that the head is a dummy.

Quotes:

Head Waiter: These damn machines will be the death of us all some day!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Amsterdamned (1988)

Watching murderous objects is a buzz

A superb Dutch film, with truly suspenseful moments! Nothing is quite so sinister as stretches of silence in movies, especially when they accompany Hitchcockian (which is to say here, predictable) suspense sequences. From the moment you read the synopsis, and figure that a film about bewitched microchips cannot expect to be taken seriously, you'd be forgiven for laughing at yourself for even contemplating seeing the film. However, If you're like me, and you consider that music, background noise, post-production, lipsynching, subliminal messaging goes too far in films, rendering terrible scenes risibly hyperactive, then you'll get off on the real-time sparsity of effects used here. Each delay to the denouement, agonisingly adds to the deathtoll. Is this going to change the world? Would a suspiciously murderous lift, in the real world? Tell the director, I'd like to see more.