Dark Floors (2008)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Pete Riski

Writers:

Pekka Lehtosaari (written by)
Lordi (original idea) ...

Release Date:

8 February 2008 (Finland)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

The Lordi Motion Picture

Plot:

A man emerges with his autistic daughter and three others from a hospital elevator to find themselves trapped in the building with devilish monsters.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Elevator | Monster | Nurse | Ghost

Cast

Lordi		(as Mr. Lordi)
Kita
Amen
Ox
Awa
Skye Bennett	...	Sarah
Noah Huntley	...	Ben
Dominique McElligott	...	Emily
Ronald Pickup	...	Tobias
William Hope	...	Jon
Leon Herbert	...	Rick
Philip Bretherton	...	Walter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Calton	...	Voice on Radio
Laura Faarinen	...	Nurse
Maggy Fellman	...	Voice on Radio (voice)
Mikael Gustafsson	...	Patient
Eveliina Haataja	...	Corpse in 2nd Floor Operation Room
Ulla Hämeenaho	...	Corpse in 2nd Floor Hallway / Zombie's Hands
Anniina Keiskander	...	Nurse
Jonna Kinnunen	...	Expecting Couple
Jarmo Korteniemi	...	Doctor
Minna Kuusisto	...	Doctor
Mari Liimatainen	...	Nurse
Niko Männikkö	...	Doctor
Iiris Mikkonen	...	Corpse in Minor Operating Room / Corpse in 2nd Floor Operation Room
Jari Sarja	...	Doctor
Jarmo Saurio	...	Doctor
Milla Suoraniemi	...	Nurse
Armi Tenkula	...	Nurse
Hannu Tihinen	...	Nurse
Kaisa Vainio	...	People in Information Desk Room

Also Known As:

Dark Floors: The Lordi Motion Picture (Finland) (promotional title)
Punainen liitu (Finland) (working title)
Red Chalk (International: English title) (working title)
Ölüm kapani (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Alma Diabólica (Brazil) [pt]
Pimedad korrused (Estonia) [et]
Piso siniestro (Argentina) (DVD title) [es]
Temnyj ztaz (Russia) [ru]

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and disturbing images.

Runtime:

87 min | Argentina:82 min (DVD version)

Country:

Finland | Iceland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | USA:R | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (2008) | UK:15 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Oulu, Finland

Company:

Icelandic Filmcompany, The

Trivia:

The film had the largest set ever built for a Finnish film.

Quotes:

Sarah: I want the red crayon!

Soundtrack:

Beast Loose In Paradise

Finland: Three points. La Finlande: Trois Points

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.