Rebekah McKendry’s followup to Superb may be one of many years worst with its boneheaded plot and poor characters.
PLOT: Supernatural horror, primarily based on the eponymous on-line phenomenon, a ritual performed in an elevator, wherein gamers try to journey to a different dimension utilizing a algorithm that may be discovered on-line.
REVIEW: After final 12 months’s Superb, Rebekah McKendry has develop into a reputation that my ears perk as much as every time I see a movie together with her identify hooked up. She has an understanding of the style and a degree of technical prowess that makes her motion pictures an absolute deal with. Or not less than I believed so. As a result of Elevator Sport is definitely no Superb. The premise of a recreation you play that kills you has been achieved time and time once more, however this one has an attention-grabbing hook with it being set on an elevator, using it as a portal to a different dimension. However, idea apart, there’s little or no else to connect to right here.
The opening of the movie units up the premise completely, with Becki making an attempt the notorious Elevator Sport. It’s actually tense and Megan Finest does a fantastic job. However as quickly because the introduction is over, we spend time with our solid, which is the place a lot of the issues lie. The performing could be very iffy, with many awkward moments, particularly every time two characters are simply making an attempt to small discuss. Almost each interplay is poorly executed. The largest situation nevertheless is that each one of them are so unlikeable. I get that you simply want some disagreeable characters to nearly be rooting towards them. However even the characters you’re supposed to love are grating! It’s a continuing supply of frustration since motion pictures like this NEED likable characters. In any other case, who cares who the ghost goes after?
And I really feel like I have to name out the stupidity of the setup: this can be a group of mates from highschool who created a mystical present. They go to varied scary locations to make movies and are apparently even sponsored to take action. Every part concerning the writing in these scenes seems like a excessive schooler wrote them. And never within the “They’ve the voice of excessive schoolers” extra within the “utterly missing in actuality” that’s prevalent in our teen years. There have been far too many well-acted/written highschool movies (Discuss To Me, It Lives Inside) this 12 months for this to not obviously stand out.
Sadly, regardless of the title, the elevator isn’t utilized almost sufficient. At any time when they attempt to do horror away from the elevator, it comes throughout foolish and overlit. The Crimson World appears attention-grabbing however they hardly even go into it. Then there’s the story that progresses in some actually sloppy methods, with dumb excuses getting used to maneuver issues alongside. There’s a safety guard character that’s in the end ineffective outdoors of conveniently timed distractions. I misplaced monitor of the dumb twists that firmly land the movie in very stereotypical territory. And it’s so disappointing that just about each character dies in such a boneheaded approach. Most may have been prevented and infrequently go away an influence. In case you’re not going to offer me characters I can care about, then not less than give me cool kills!
I really feel like this has simply been extraordinarily adverse so let’s give attention to a few of the positives. The visuals are sometimes nice; particularly when the extra horrific moments occur. The filmmakers actually assist you to soak within the second. Each second that includes the elevator is the place the film excels. The look of the demon can also be fairly cool and a lot of the scenes that includes it are pretty unnerving. However every time the make-up job is proven in any clear gentle, it simply appears like one thing you’d see in a stageplay. Crap. There I am going being adverse once more. However sadly, that’s what this film warrants. Offering only a few satisfying or horrific moments, Elevator Sport is one I don’t advocate taking part in.
ELEVATOR GAME is STREAMING ON SHUDDER SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2023.
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