Dark Floors (2008)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Such a frustrating disappointment

Powerful

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The Three Acts: The initial tableaux: Father Ben and daughter Sarah are at a hospital getting sensitive tests run on her brain. The power fails, the machine adjusts, and Sarah freaks out. Ben decides to take Sarah somewhere else.Ben, Sarah, Nurse Emily, Security Guard Rick, salesman Jon, and mental patient Tobias take an elevator together. The power goes out again. They manage to get out on the fifth floor, which at first seems deserted.Delineation of conflicts: Sarah wants her red crayon. Ben wants her to be safe. Rick and Emily want to know what's going on. Jon wants to take his sample teddy bears and leave the building. Tobias seems to know they are in some sort of trouble, but does not communicate that well.There is some poltergeist activity (television, radio, telephones, fans), and their freedom of movement seems hampered. While in a stairwell, someone takes a shot at them, and grazes Rick's neck.Soon enough, it seems that something does not want them to leave. Tobias hints that the other four adults might know why this is. Again, his communication is oblique. Sarah draws things that no one else sees; ghostly images tantalize them; soon enough, tangible actions are observed.Resolution: This film follows several horror movie clichés. The ghosts/demons seem to be suffering or obsessed with an issue or two. The adult humans need to surface parts of their memories that pertain to that suffering. Will they be able to work out issues with the supernaturals?

**Please BE INFORMED THAT THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE, I WOULD RECOMMEND WATCHING IT BEFORE YOU READ THIS REVIEW. THANK YOU.**Interesting, is the least that could be said. The movie starts out in this hospital, where this guy's daughter is getting an MRI on her brain, due to some dysfunction of some sort. Then, the hospital staff just ups and decides to put her on new medications without the father's consent. At this point in the movie, the script really bugged me. The sincerity in the people was lacking. All the dad did for his daughter was complain to the nurse after she told him that by not taking them at the right time, she could die. Either he didn't give much of a crap, or what? That's when my connections to the characters started to fade. All of a sudden, in an elevator that the dad, little girl, nurse, and a handful of other people, including this guy Tobias, were on broke down. Now apparently after getting off the elevator, these people were transported to a point of a standstill in time. They were on the line between two dimensions. Then it was brought to my attention that the little girl and Tobias were the only ones that knew what was going on. The monsters in the new time stasis didn't want anything to do with Tobias. I think it was because he was dying. Again, the movie fails to tell us this. They end up running into themselves in this time loop. In fact, they pretty much are following themselves as separate people throughout the hospital. The "others" are them about 30 min in the future. So, I took it as a never ending circle of time. I was so confused at this point.It turns out throughout this whole time era; the monsters are all after the little girl. Apparently there's something special about her they like. Yet again, nothing is explained about that either, other than the fact that she knows what's going on. Finally, at the end of the movie, some big demon emerges from the blackness. I don't know if it was supposed to be the devil, or just some messed up monster. It isn't exactly clear what happened to the little girl either. It showed her walking towards it. Then the scene shifts back to the point just after her MRI. What in the holy hell happened? Was it her facing death, or was it a dream? I couldn't even begin to tell you.To sum things up, this movie was okay. It had its moments. However, there was a very poor connection to the characters, and major plot holes throughout the story-line. I would give this movie a [ 2.9 / 5 ] (D+)

I think that Dark Floors had a very good potential to be great. Everything was done very well, the acting, the directing, and the camera shoots. The only thing wrong with Dark Floors, in my opinion, was the story line.The story line wasn't that bad, it was just very confusing. It leaves you wondering, with a lot of different holes in it. You end up asking yourself, "how did they get there," or "why is this happening." It is very unclear on to why the things around them are taking place, and what's causing them.I do think it was done well, although it just doesn't make much sense. I think the viewers of this movie will have a hard time dictating what is happening to the cast. It is a very confusing film, no doubt about that.

Eurovision Song Contest winners Lordi take part in their own film. It really could have been done without them, they just take on the roles of some ghosts and demons. It's typical stuck in a twisty, turny place hokum. Unexplained stuff happens, some of which is later explained, some that isn't. The jumps and set pieces were pretty decent, and it didn't come off as some kind of vanity project. In fact, Lordi's costumes made for creatures outside of your usual horror film. I'm bored of the usual spectres or CGI rotting ghosts. Shot with confidence and skill Dark Floors wont impress everybody, or anybody for that matter. But it will appease some of the genre fans.