Uwontlikemyopinion Four annoying customers at a restaurant stay late during a lightning storm. They leave and step inside an elevator. The elevator stops because the power goes out. While stuck in the elevator, the heating goes berserk (two people start having sex)! Thankfully, they survive, but management decides to hire Felix (Huub Stapel), a technician, to figure out the problem with the unstable lift.Stylish goofball black horror comedy supplies sufficient elevator kills (about three or four). The film manages to convey some tension with strong production design, special effects (most of the death scenes are shot backwards), and direction.The subplots (mainly the one concerning infidelity) and exposition deescalate the film. Also, find this film in Dutch because I had to grit my teeth through some of the dubbing. "De Lift" entertains and manages to waste time.

Scott LeBrun In a high rise office building in the Netherlands, an elevator repairman named Felix Adelaar (Huub Stapel) is busy trying to solve a mystery. The elevators in this place are now functioning improperly, incapacitating passengers if not killing them outright. Could the cause be some sort of human error, or is something supernatural going on? Felix works the clues in the company of an aggressive, sassy reporter, Mieke de Beer (Willeke van Ammelrooy).Writer & director Dick Maas ("Amsterdamned") deserves some credit for treating his premise with some measure of restraint. Therefore, it won't be to all tastes. It admittedly comes up a little short in the thrills department, with a slow pace and a talky script. Yet, there are fun moments, such as when an unfortunate security guard is decapitated by an elevator. Also, Stapel is an appealing working-class, Everyman sort of hero, and he has some chemistry with the striking van Ammelrooy. They receive able support from players such as Josine van Dalsum (as Felix's wife), Siem Vroom (as a police inspector), and Hans Veerman (as the boss at "Rising Sun", the electronics company working in tandem with Felix's employers).The script does possess some passing interest for the way that it touches upon the subject of technological evolution (with computers that used to fill up entire rooms now becoming much more compact, and the advent of computer chips)."The Lift" is a little light on gore and other exploitable elements, but overall it's fairly entertaining to watch. Maas does pretty well working with the limited budget, and IS expert at crafting suspense, especially the eerie and atmospheric finale with Felix in an elevator shaft. The electronic score (composed by Maas) is likewise a highlight.One of the set decorators is Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., who 28 years later, directed the prequel to John Carpenters' "The Thing".Seven out of 10.

Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) Foreign horror movies are something to take notice of. In "De Lift", it's worth the watch. Dick Mass has put up a masterpiece that is reassuring and intriguing at the same time. Here you have a elevator in a very big building with one sinister secret. During a dinner party, four guests are very drunk and they go in the elevator to their rooms. However, it stops midway, and the guests begin to overheat.Fortunately, they do get rescued and sent to the hospital. The mechanic Felix(Huub Stapel), takes a look at the building and check it out from top to bottom for flaws. He finds none. But he's still curious about it. After checking it out, another tragedy strikes. Then there's the guard who lost his head. Felix's obsession with the lift gains the attention of a reporter(Willeke von Ammelrooy) who followed up on him. His obsession with the lift has put a strain on the marriage. Which would lead to the company he works for. A super chip has given the computer to give life which proves to be fatal. A very intriguing film. Fun to watch. Recommended for the rainy day times. 3 out of 5 stars

preppy-3 Ridiculous horror film about an elevator that kills people. Seriously! A man figures out and tries to find out why the elevator is acting this way...and get it to stop.How a film with such a stupid premise got made is beyond me. Let's face it--elevators just aren't scary! They can't chase after you or catch you. To avoid them you just take the stairs! Even if you can accept that it doesn't even stay true to its own premise. At one point a blind man is waiting for the elevator. The doors open--but there's no car there and he falls to his death. How exactly did the elevator KNOW that the guy was blind? Even worse we never get a plausible explanation as to why this is happening. We get lots of boring family drama and loonnggg talks about elevators. Seriously--there is WAY too much talk in this. Three times I had to rewind the tape to be able to read all the subtitles (this is from the Netherlands). This gets a three for some cool murders but, all in all, boring and pretty pointless.