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Mrtrick
Despite it's original intended release in 2001, the film also known as "The Shaft" feels like something that got made about ten years earlier. It was the films bad luck to get shelved when 9/11 happened, not emerging on local video store shelves for another two years. And there's no doubt that the references to terrorism in the film feel particularly quaint. In addition, the cliche ridden characters also feel like they come from another time (or universe). The CG is more miss than hit, feeling just as dated.
The biggest sense of Deja Vu for many will come with the feeling that they already watched a version of this movie where everybody spoke Dutch. And more or less, they would be right, as writer/director Dick Maas basically created the American version of his own possessed elevator flick "The Lift". Anyone watching the two back to back will find a significant amount of overlap, from plot to horror Shtick.
"The Lift" is succesful in it's own right, so it should have been an easy win. But a few things got lost in translation. Actually, specifically translation. When Maas took on the task of reinterpreting his original work into the English speakers idiolect, he left the audience with this weird disconnect. Pretty much every line spoken in this movie seems slightly off. From delivery to phrasing, you get the vague feeling that these are New Yorkers as interpreted by a Martian. Now, I'll gladly admit that this isn't the worst example of this I've seen (Go watch a movie called "Samurai Cop" and you'll get a more pronounced appreciation) but it just adds to the overall vibe of absurdity coursing through the movie.
The motivation behind all the carnage is utterly convoluted and completely ridiculous when one considers it for very long (who could ever imagine how Machiavellian elevator companies might be). The filmmakers never make clear whether we're dealing with an advanced technological threat or a supernatural one. I'm not sure if they even know.
Down isn't a total loss though. It has fine production values. There are some well executed action beats. You get a heaping helping of great character actors, with the likes of Edward Herrman, Michael Ironsides, Dan Hedaya and Ron Pearlman stoking their genre film bona fides. We get Naomi Watts right as she was making a name for herself with Mulholland Drive. (She's stunningly beautiful as always, but like everyone else in the cast, she's struggling to make due with goofy writing and questionable direction.) And we also receive a dose of the bizarre, which always works for me. There are a lot of genuinely weird set pieces in this movie. Like Jerry Bruckheimer and John Waters had a baby which proceded to make a horror flick. (Roller Derby down a crowded New York street..check. A Blind Guy groping his hair dresser while his Seeing Eye Dog looks on..check. How about (metaphysical?) induced labor or a Daycare Worker who seems to have had a past life in the Gestapo..sure.) You want off kilter? "Down" has it.
"Down" may not make a whole heck of a lot of sense, but I laughed hysterically on a number of occasions. Whether I was supposed to or not, is debatable. The gore is hamstrung by some shoddy CG (a certain decapitation is especially stupid looking), but there's still a lot of gusto behind the set pieces. Fun is fun, though. Even if it's hard to define as good. 4 years 6 months ago