Do you believe in urban legends that much? Then you have company. Whether or not you do, it’s possible to say they are at the very least somewhat captivating. It is no wonder therefore that there is an abundance of movies about urban legends which were based on a variety of scary conversation-starters. Also, speaking of scares, there’s a new horror feature called Elevator Game which focuses on one such legend that has grown out of control amidst a group of young aspiring filmmakers.
In other scary movie’s, the acting may be better than what you will see in Elevator Game – directed by Rebekah McKendry (All the Creatures Were Stirring) from a script by Travis Seppala and David Ian McKendry – but it certainly has its share of hard-R-rated violence and unpredictable thrills that might have you leaping up from your seat and sending popcorn all over the place.
The “elevator game” started as an online phenomenon before eventually being turned into a film. If done right, certain floors must be pressed inside an elevator (of your choice) in a specific order, and poof! You can find yourself face-to-face with ‘the 5th Floor Woman,’ some kind of supernatural being while entering “Red World.”
However, before we get to see any actual alternate dimension stuff in this supposed universe known as Elevator Games, we meet Becki (Megan Best), a young adult who enters an elevator alone to try it out – with her phone recording everything for her fans back home obviously. The tense sequence builds up until she is startled by a demon appearing suddenly before her eyes which can only be seen through the lens of her selfie camera on her phone. Thereafter begins the opening credits where we come across various actors who could or couldn’t be related to Becki.
The major plotline revolves around several fake youths filming themselves doing scary things as well as proving urban legends wrong for their YouTube followers alone. This seems to be the way things are going with today’s influencers and social media personalities. Kids these days, right?
Bombastic Kris (Alec Carlos) and mellow Chloe (Verity Marks) host this particular series set in Elevator Game while Izzy (Madison MacIsaac), Matty (Nazariy Demkowicz) and Kevin (Liam Stewart-Kanigan) run things behind the scenes. The youngsters’ dialogue is similar to that of the children from Stranger Things and Stephen King’s It although performances in Elevator Game may not be on par with those titles.
However, why would they risk their lives? Well, they’ve just finished high school, and there’s a brand known as Something Green that is the sponsor of the show; however we find out that this week at least filmmakers must come up with new content that calls out even louder about how lovely this brands funding will be taken away by the brand unless something new comes up by Friday. What then? Luckily, there is a news intern Ryan (Gino Anania) who has just joined them and has a great idea for a new episode. It’s simple and quick – it needs to be for purposes of meeting sponsorship deadlines.
That very night, they troop into a building looking like that one from the recent Evil Dead Rise film. Ryan is starting to get along with Chloe, which leads to their elevator game test of the urban legend while Verity Marks starring as Chloe, who is destined for fame and gives probably the most outstanding performances in the movie. Meanwhile, Matty’s character does manage to provide comic relief at times, particularly when things go wrong later on…
Why “haywire” you ask? At first, they appear to have proved that it was all a myth after trying it out once — that meant nothing happened. They all decide to call it a day, but Ryan wants to do it again so badly and reveals that he knows something deep down. What this secret is cannot be disclosed here but what follows are fights and break-ups which turn their lives into R-rated nightmares of haunting violence.
It also doesn’t help that Ryan tries the game a second time by himself just as Kevin and Izzy have to come back for some equipment left behind in the building by accident. These scenes make up some of the best moments in its runtime: given how innocent these young adults seem otherwise, they are gratuitously vicious. It’s almost like Stranger Things getting ultra dark and street brutal; did you notice when they show got really mean? But it does as does Elevator Game.
“What do ya want me t’do?” quips Matty snidely before adding “call da police on Casper over here?” This scene belongs to him completely because he even runs inside a restaurant where during the scariest part of Act II he sprinkles salt everywhere – right onto his head! As for Chloe she decides to look more into this mythology involving them and concludes there might indeed be trouble ahead. The kid turns out creepy suspense evocative of 1990s classics such as I Know What You Did Last Summer—and can you believe it those films are almost 30 years old!
Elevator Game’s success comes from its playful use of horror movie camera angles and creepy soundtrack that makes the jumps in scary movies we love even more. It has a cliffhanger with blood-soaked ending that feels similar to A24’s recent better film called Talk to Me which has actually got a sequel coming out soon. As for Elevator Game, it is just a simple enough concept that could spawn a second entry but slasher fans may be slightly disappointed by the lack of stars and all too common thrills.
Watch free movies on Fmovies
