There are so many ways you can die in an elevator accident. You rarely think about it when you step inside and press the button for your floor. If you’re slightly cautious, you’ll take a peek at the last time it was inspected to see if it was before the 21st Century started. There are times when an elevator is a bit to “noisy” so that my instinct is to hit the button for the next floor, get off and continue my upward journey via the stairs. Why chance it? The Dutch filmmaker Dick Maas recognized the horror in the death box that goes up and down high-rises in the early ’80s. The Lift (what people in Europe call elevators) will make you consider taking the stairs.
A loud boisterous table with two couples keep the staff from shutting down the prestigious Icarus Restaurant on top of a high-rise building. After a night of drinks and slightly dirty jokes, they finally make their way to the elevator. They’re staying on a lower floor in their hotel room. Things quickly get frisky when the doors close as you might expect in a film made in Europe in the early ’80s. The fun gets freaky when lightning hits the building. The lights go out and the elevator gets stuck. This leads one of the ladies wanting to take advantage of the “quiet time” by resuming the fun with her date. Things inside the car get extra hot and sweaty without it being from making out. And then the worst happens. The next day, Felix Adelaar (Amsterdamned‘s Huub Stapel) is sent over by the elevator company to diagnose and repair the malfunction. It’s very unusual for people to asphyxiate in an elevator car. He can’t find anything wrong with the electrical system. However the elevator isn’t done claiming victims. Frank returns to try harder to locate the lethal glitch in the system. He later meets Mieke de Beer (Wan Pipel‘s Willeke van Ammelrooy), a reporter for a local tabloid newspaper eager to get an exclusive on the homicidal elevator. Frank and Mieke become obsessed as to why the elevator is killing people. Can a lift just be pure evil or is their something even more nefarious happening?
Director Dick Maas is best known to GenX for directing video for Golden Earring’s “Twilight Zone” that aired almost every hour on MTV. He also did an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He made both of the cult favorite Amsterdamned movies. If the plot of The Lift sound familiar, Maas remade the movie in 2001 with James Marshall (Twin Peaks) and Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive) as The Shaft (not to be confused with Shaft). Seeing the original is fun because it has the Dutch feel. Someone it makes sense that the owners of the building haven’t shut down the elevator after the second event. As if that’s just the price of wanting to not take the stairs when you live in Holland.
The Lift becomes more of mystery as they investigate the homicidal elevator. I don’t want to spoil this, but the topic that is more pertinent now than when the movie was originally made. There’s also a great subplot involving Frank spending so much time with the reporter that his wife thinks something else is happening. Who wouldn’t use the cover of a murderous elevator to keep up an affair? The film’s tagline was “Take the Stairs! Take The Stairs! For God’s Sake Take The Stairs.” This pretty much sums up The Lift.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a 2K restoration from the original camera negative. Director Dick Maas approved it. Things look great in the elevator guts. The Audio is 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD in Dutch. There’s also an English dub in 2.0 DTS-HD. The movie is subtitled in English and Spanish.
Audio Commentary features writer/director Dick Maas and editor Hans van Dongen. They both speak English with moderator David Gregory. Maas admits the opening shot inside the elevator was inspired by the beginning of Star Wars. They filmed the tall building outside Amsterdam.
Going Up (9:09) is an interview with star Huub Stapel. He had no movie acting experience before The Lift. He was a live stage actor. The producers had him audition for the repairman role. He learned during the shoot. He got to enjoy working for Dick Maas even though he was a stubborn director. He talks about the movie playing at the marketplace in Cannes. He explains his career after the film was released in the early ’80s. The talk is done on a boat.
Long Distance (4:13) is a short film by Dick Maas from 2003. A guy calls home and doesn’t want to tell his family what’s happening in his life. It’s a creepy extremely short film.
Trailers include the Dutch Trailer (3:30) and the U.S. Trailer (1:39). Island Alive released the film in America.
Poster and Still Gallery has over 80 images of posters, newspaper ads, lobby cards, press photos, behind the scenes snaps, storyboards and home video boxes. There’s even a Paris box office report where the film did better than Emanuelle 4, Star 80, Gwendoline, Krull and Tchao Pantin.
Blue Underground presents The Lift. Directed by Dick Maas. Screenplay by Dick Maas. Starring Huub Stapel, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Josine van Dalsum, Liz Snoyink, Wiske Sterringa, Agnes Schuch, Arnica Elsendoorn and Carola Gijsbers van Wijk. Running Time: 99 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: June 30, 2026.
