Dark Floors (2008) Reviews

• The main problem with this is that it is a Finnish film (for Finns at least)

  flamewall2008-02-11

  I got to say that i went to see this movie with low expectations. I didn't believe that a Lordi movie could be good because i actually couldn't imagine it as a whole. Though, after i saw the movie i was amazed at how well the writers and the director pulled it off. It is often said that horror is the most delicate type of movie because there is only a slight difference between scary and ridiculous. but this doesn't concern Dark Floors because it is not (atleast in my mind) a full blooded horror movie. The movie has many horror elements but doesn't still come off as horrorish. That doesn't make it bad it just means that you can't go in to the theater wishing that you will be scared out of your nickers. The visual and audio feel of the movie was excellent all the way and there is nothing anyone can say about that. The plot did leave a annoying amount of plot holes and the ending didn't really clear any of them up and the viewer was just left to quess what the plot was all about. Still it didn't bother half as much as the under use of the Lordi band members. I have never liked Lordi and never listened to them but while watching this movie i became interested in the different monsters they play. Sadly, the plot did hardly nothing at all to use the unique backgrounds and looks of the different ghoul part from the different superpowers they all demonstrated. What i am saying is that i would have liked this movie to be more about the monsters than the victims... really who gave a goddamn thing for what happened to the all knowing copper or the businessman type. The only character i got even a bit curious was the weird hobo with superpowers and a weird telepathic relationship with the girl but he is never explained in any way(a big mistake). In retrospect i think they could have done a lot more better but i also think that there is a lot of good in this film also and i hope it will be a success financially. There is just one thing Finns can't tolerate: a successful Finnish movie if it is not a drama.

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• Finland: Three points. La Finlande: Trois Points

  Coventry2008-04-04

  Lordi was a major hype and revelation in 2007 because they won the Eurovision Song Contest with a (not-so-heavy) metal song called "Hard Rock Hallelujah" and appeared on stage dressed like hideous monsters. But, let's face it, their victory most likely had very little to do with their great musical talents. The Eurovision contest gradually turned into one big political circus over the years and Lordi probably just won because their song finally brought a little change and – even more importantly - because their whole act sort of ingeniously spoofed the whole annual event. The absolute last thing Lordi's first (and hopefully last) horror film brings is change and ingenuity. "Dark Floors", based on an idea of the lead singer and starring the rest of the band in supportive roles, is a truly unimaginative and hopeless accumulation of clichés. The immense budget ("Dark Floors" supposedly is the most expensive Finnish film ever) definitely assures greatly macabre set pieces and impressive make-up art, but what's the point where there's no story that is worth telling? The film takes is set in a busy hospital where a bunch of people, among them a father and his young daughter with an unidentifiable illness, become trapped in the elevator during a power breakdown. When the doors open again, the floors are empty and it looks as if the hospital lies abandoned since many years already. Trying to reach the exit, the group stumbles upon several morbid and inexplicable obstacles, like eyeless corpses, screaming ghosts and Heavy Metal monsters emerging from the floors. The only three points I'm handing out to "Dark Floors" are exclusively intended for the scenery and the adequate tension building during the first half of the film. For as long as the sinister events don't require an explanation, the atmosphere is quite creepy, but as soon as you realize the explanation will a) be very stupid or b) never come, the wholesome just collapses like an unstable house of cards. Lordi's costumes never really were scary to begin with (except maybe to traditional Eurovision fans) and, in combination with a story more reminiscent to Asian ghost-horror, they just look downright pathetic and misfit. With all the national myths and truly unique exterior filming locations, I personally always presumed Finland – The Land of a Thousand Lakes – would be the ideal breeding ground for potentially horrific horror tales, but I guess that's another disillusion on my account.

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• Weak horror attempt by an embarrassing rock band

  kidsmoke-22008-07-04

  Just finished watching, can't say I was impressed. It starts of quite good, the visual and the atmosphere gives a creepy feeling as this type of movie should. But it all ends when the first lordi monster appears. Not only do you recognize them from the band lordi, but they are seriously malplaced in the movie. Doomsday monsters with leather jackets and piercings are so 80's. As for the storyline, it starts of as similar horror movies, people trapped inside a hell hole. But there is no clear story on why and what is happening. The viewer is thrown some lines on possible reasons, but the lines never meet and end up to anything but a mess. With all the money spent on this film, with an intriguing start and some good effects, I had thought someone would have taken better care of the product. I wonder if lordi made this movie just to prove that their show costumes could be scary (except they aren't). So the movie gets cred for the visuals, i guess the money had to go somewhere. But the rest is an embarrassing attempt from a rock band to make their on-stage monster aliases scarier.

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• Wha? Huh?

  scarletheels2009-03-24

  I love cheesy horror flicks. I don't care if the acting is sub-par or whether the monsters look corny. I liked this movie except for the bewildered feeling all the way from the beginning of the film to the very end. Look, I don't need a 10 page dissertation or a sign with big letters explaining a plot to me. But Dark Floors takes the "what is this movie about?" thing to a whole new (annoying) level. What IS this movie about? This isn't exceptionally scary or thrilling but if you have an hour and a half to kill and/or you want to end up feeling frustrated and confused, rent this winner.

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• I saw the movie today

  kenu-12008-01-31

  I saw the movie today at some kind of prescreening, I suppose. My friend got some tickets for free and I wasn't going to pass. I'm going to try not to go into too much detail. However, if you're planning on seeing the movie, I'd advice you to watch it first. Here are a few thoughts: Visually I really liked the movie: Good camera angles, cool lightning and nice effects. Audio was good too, I thought. The story was pretty interesting and I didn't find it boring at any point. I think the introduction part of the movie could've been longer, as we now almost instantly get thrown into the action. I'm sure many disagree with this, but personally I thought the movie could've been a little longer and thereby a little slower paced at times. I have to admit I don't think I entirely understood the film and its ending, which left me a little confused. Some story related things in the film were really cool, like the time stopping and the people shooting at themselves. At this point I was expecting a little more of the movie and where it was heading and I was slightly disappointed in the end. The biggest problem for me, watching the movie, was that the monsters are indeed the members of Lordi, and no matter how good they look, I can't really be scared of them, since I'm familiar with them. Not only that, but also I found it a little weird how monsters that different from each other kept randomly showing up. I think it would've been a cooler movie (or a few) to only have one or two of these characters in a movie. I especially enjoyed Ox; he looked really bad ass. Omen was also cool. No offense, Mr Lordi, but with him being the "big boss" at the end, I can't say I was impressed. The other characters looked pretty sweet, but him I found least scary. Of course this might be because I've seen him the most. I can't say for sure if I would've found the movie more scary if I didn't know the characters, but I definitely think so. The actors did a good job, I thought. No complaints there, I bought it. Overall, I did not expect too much of the movie. I saw a short trailer once (I try to avoid trailers and reading too much up front to give me a totally fresh nothing-knowing movie experience) and it was pretty cool, though I was afraid the characters might screw it up. I thought it was really stylish and the story had lots of potential. Maybe I'll understand it entirely some day when you guys comment on it. I will say, though, that I'm seeing too many horror movies concentrated on children and their drawings. :) I feel like I forgot to comment on something, but I guess I'll just stop here. I'll try to answer possible questions you may have. -Ken

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