Down (2001) AKA The Shaft (2001)

 

Down is a movie about a killer elevator and the people who want to repair it, the people who want to protect it, and the people who want to expose it. It's a complex story with complex characters. 

One of those sentences is accurate; the other is bullshit. The movie wants you to believe both as it tells the story of a couple ex-Desert Storm Vets working on elevators in New York when one of them become sentient. That sentience uncovers some mysteries along the way and kills people too. If you've ever wondered what a movie about a murderous appliance might look like, and wondered why someone wouldn't just pull its plug or simply stand far enough out of its reach...this movie is for you. 

If you were already afraid of elevators, this scene probably has you biting your nails.

In addition to specifically terrifying people who were scared of elevators before they started watching, Down/The Shaft is a movie of it's time. By that, I mean it captured the few months before 9/11, and that's obvious in its skyline panoramas. 

But more than the cityscape, this movie puts the viewer into a moment in history where people carried chunky cellphones and didn't text one another. Plus, there's rollerblading. 

Set, of course, to Aerosmith's 1989 classic "Love in an Elevator"

The film's story is centered on a possessed elevator that kills people. There's a lightning strike, then the elevator does its murdering. You might be wondering if the kills are gory, horror-ific, etc. And I can tell you...no. They are not. You might also be wondering if the Killer Elevator somehow develops some character and motivation for these killings to make them more interesting. It does not. 

Captivating stuff.

Should the audience of a movie about a killer elevator expect characterization of its killer elevator? No, we shouldn't. Okay, well, you might also be wondering if this movie has a good cast. Fucking hell yes. It definitely does. 

Naomi Watts

Edward Herrmann

Ron Perlman and Michael Ironside

But despite this wealth of talent and a story that was seemingly created using one of those MadLibs books, the film is not an exciting hodgepodge of majestic scene chewing paired with leaps in logic. Instead, it's just a dud. We have a stationary killer that is barely devising ways to kill people; instead, it's just murdering in the few mundane methods available to it - a sentient elevator. 

Ultimately, the only legitimate reasons to watch this movie are to see what roles great actors might be embarrassed by, out of curiosity about how an elevator could kill people in the most boring ways imaginable, or if you have some weird fetish for New York skylines that include the Twin Towers just prior to 9/11 (film released 5/2001).