The Lift (1983) – Dutch Horror Film Review
The Lift is a Dutch horror film set in Amsterdam. It was released in 1983, so it may be a little dated for the tastes of many modern horror movie fans. Nevertheless, it’s not a bad choice for anyone who is willing to give it a chance and is not adverse to watching films with subtitles. DVD and Blu-ray copies have subtitles in English and Spanish.
Most of the action occurs in a tall building comprising private apartments and offices. There is also a restaurant on the top floor but most of the property is empty.
The building has three lifts that stand side by side. Throughout the film, it’s mainly the middle one that causes most of the problems, which initially appear to be the result of a lightning strike that occurs late in the evening just as after two couples have left the restaurant.
When the lift becomes stuck between floors, two of the occupants decide to kill some time by having sex. However, it isn’t long before the air-conditioning fails and the occupants of the lift almost suffocate and subsequently have to be rushed to hospital.
Huub Stapel plays Felix Adelaar, an engineer sent by the elevator company to rectify the problem. Willeke van Ammelrooy plays Mieke de Beer, a journalist who has heard about the incident in the list and believes she could be onto a good story.
Felix finds nothing wrong with the air-conditioning unit in the lift and checks out the entire system. Everything seems fine.
However, the lift continues to malfunction. Victims include a blind man who has just purchased an apartment, a cleaner, and a night watchman who is decapitated after the lift traps his head between its doors.
Throughout the film, the lift seems to have a life of its own. The things that happen to people in its vicinity appear to be deliberate and, I admit, I hadn’t got a clue what was going on.
For most of the film, Felix has no idea what is going on with the lift either, but people are dying and he’s determined to get to the bottom of the problem, even when his boss, who appears to have something to hide, forces him to take a holiday and sends another engineer to take care of the lift instead.
Relatively early in the film, Mieke sneaks into the building, finds Felix hard at work and begins asking him questions. Later, he finds her sitting in his van and gives her a lift to her place of work.
Although the police are aware of the incidents in the building, the officer in charge of the investigation doesn’t like lifts and is happy to put everything down to electromechanical malfunctions. The only two people who want to get to the bottom of things are Felix and Mieke who gradually start to develop a friendship.
When a friend of Felix’s wife sees him in a restaurant with Mieke, she is quick to tell his wife, who presumes he is having an affair. The couple never take the time to discuss the matter properly and, when Felix returns home from work one day, he finds his wife has left and taken their two children with her and are presently staying with her mother.
Felix’s marital troubles and his and Mieka’s joint quest to find the truth help bring a little extra life to the story, which can get pretty grim and nasty at times.
The Lift is not the best Dutch horror film I have seen but it’s pretty good. I can’t say I enjoyed watching the scene where the nightwatchman was beheaded but The Lift is pretty tame compared to modern horror films and all the pieces begin to fall into place as the story progresses. Felix and Mieke get to the truth and, although it would be hard to say The Lift has a happy ending, by the time the final credits roll the source of the lift problems finally becomes clear.
If you like Dutch horror films or simply fancy watching something a little different, it’s possible to buy the Lift on DVD or Blu-ray. However, copies can be hard to find so sourcing a copy may take some time.