timmy_501 Hellevator: The Bottled Fools is set in a dystopian future somewhat reminiscent of THX1138. Apparently the outside world is no longer fit for human habitation so everyone is forced to stay indoors. Large elevators are used to get from one place to another and the commute time on these vehicles seems to be substantial for most people. After dropping an illegal cigarette and running away from the police, thus starting a chain of events that culminates in a large explosion a few minutes later; Luchino Fujisaki, a seventeen year old telepathic schoolgirl who has recently been released from a mental institution in spite of her ongoing violent urges and/or delusions, enters one of these elevators. The elevator soon becomes a HELLEVATOR when a young, nervous police officer enters with two extremely dangerous prisoners moments before the aforementioned large explosion causes him to be distracted long enough for the prisoners to get the upper hand and wreak havoc. Eventually Luchino gets a little berserk herself and the bodies start to pile up. As this unusual scenario plays itself out each of the eight passengers is involved in multiple acts of violence and it's revealed that virtually every one of them has something to hide.Although rookie director Hiroki Yamaguchi pulls out a lot of tricks to make Hellevator at least moderately visually interesting, it's clear from the get go that the film was shot on a tiny budget. Still, there are some nice dreamlike special effects shots when Luchino enters the minds of her fellow passengers and the frequent gore effects were done fairly well. Yamaguchi also does a good job of creating some atmosphere, both in the green tinted elevator scenes and the interwoven interrogation scene that makes use of a dark blue color palette. Hellevator is a fairly well done cyberpunk movie that makes adequate use of an unusual setting but runs out of steam just before the inexplicable ending.

siderite This is clearly a low budget movie and its script, with just three sets and a handful of people, is more like that of a play than that of a movie. But the overall film is OK. The script is rather original, the characters presented are interesting and the outcome is not predictable.Basically, everything happens in an elevator that goes from one level of "the world" to the other, with various people inside. Things get weird when the big-brothery Surveillance Bureau stops the elevator to transport two death-row convicts. What was interesting about the movie was the design, which included weird technology like a cell phone, cardboard milk boxes, etc, but also big ring-a-ding phones, lots of little engines and exposed wiring and levers and huge clicking buttons :)I would have given this an 8 if it weren't for the bad ending. It seemed completely out of place.

stuffkikker The minute this movie started, it had 'cube' written all over it. The high-tech yet raw atmosphere, the lighting, even the camera-work reminded me of it. And obviously this movie was meant to capture a similar type of claustrophobic ambiance.Now I am totally into Japanese movies (big fan of Takashi Miike), and I love suspense/thriller stuff (I loved the Cube), but this movie was a total bore.. The atmosphere itself was OK, but the acting, the props, the character design, the story, the logics; utter crap. Truly, over half of what happens makes no sense. In addition, the suspense is broken over different events, so it never really builds up. Something happens, and it's resolved... something else happens, and it's resolved.. and none of these things really get to you because they are so incredibly predictable and unnecessary, mixed up with pretentious horror-like cut-scenes to spice things up, which instead ridicule the whole deal even more.. I'm giving it 3 stars for the ambiance and the chicks, but other than that, this movie is not worth your time.. unless you really, really have nothing else to do..

rand corp This is certainly not the best Japanese movie ever, there are a bit too much technical flaws (could partially have been due to a bad tape though, I've seen it on the Brussels BIFFF festival), and a bit too many cliché's in the plot, and the gore was a bit too soft(for a movie advertised as a horror movie, that is) it doesn't really have something to stand out from the rest of the new Japanese movie....except for its atmosphere...really liked the atmosphere, which had a lot to do with the decors, which were very well put together.... the two people who I went to see the movie with hated it, mainly for the flaws I've mentioned before, but I guess this is a typical case of "if you concentrate too much on the flaws you'll hate it, otherwise it just might grab you, and you're in for a very enjoyable ride"So to be brief: I loved it but I can't really recommend it...still I'll give it an 8, mainly to promote a talented filmmaker which I'm sure will deliver a few brilliant movies if he gets the budget he deserves