The Lift (1983)

A lift technician finds himself drawn into a web of mystery and peril as he investigates the perplexing deadly accidents occurring in the elevators of a new office building.

Director:

Dick Maas

Writer:

Dick Maas

Stars:

Huub Stapel, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Josine van Dalsum

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Huub Stapel	...	Felix Adelaar
Willeke van Ammelrooy	...	Mieke de Beer
Josine van Dalsum	...	Saskia Adelaar
Liz Snoyink	...	Vrouw in Lift (as Liz Snoijink)
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	...	Dochtertje
Sydney Kuyer	...	Zoontje
Cor Witschge	...	Dagportier

Storyline

A lift begins displaying some erratic behavior, like trapping some party goers and nearly suffocating them, and decapitating a security guard. Felix, the technician from the lift company, can't find anything wrong with the circuitry. When he and a nosy reporter begin asking questions of the lift company's electronics partner (Rising Sun Electronics) his boss puts him on a leave of absence. A subsequent visit to a professor leads them to believe that some evil experiments are being conducted with MICROCHIPS.

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Plot Keywords:

decapitated by an elevator | artificial intelligence | severed head | topless female nudity | falling down an elevator shaft | 

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Taglines:

Take the Stairs, Take the Stairs. For God's Sake, Take the Stairs!!!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

A hastily subtitled copy of the film was shown at Cannes and was such a success that Warner Brothers purchased the distribution rights.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 15 mins) When Felix arrives at Kronenstede at night you clearly see a crew members body reflected in the window when he drives around the corner.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Remade as The Shaft (2001)

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

English Dutch

Release Date:

4 July 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lift

Filming Locations:

Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands

Box Office

Budget:

EUR350,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Floor Features, Sigma Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1