Alicia I love this movie so much

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

GL84 Called in to investigate an accident, elevator repair specialists and a reporter catch on that something isn't right, and as more accidents continue to plague the building they do some investigating on the story where they piece together what went wrong and save the people trapped inside.There wasn't all that much to like about it, but what was there was enough to like. One of the better aspects found here is the fact that the premise to this is actually kind of interesting and original. This is a new one involving the haunted section of the building, and that is what gives this one some great scenes here of this one attempting to support the idea of taking this seriously in the first half which is a surprising aspect and is certainly needed quite badly. This far more realistic and straightforward setup towards such a potentially goofy storyline is quite enjoyable which is enhanced by the action scenes that comes in later in the film are quite well filmed and are actually quite interesting. From the series of malfunctions and incredibly vicious accidents that are logically played out in terms of what a potential elevator mishap can occur as well as throwing in some ingenious supernatural-based activity that can't possibly occur in real life to an elevator shaft which is furthered by the fact that the gore is pretty plentiful and has some cool deaths spread throughout here. Guided along by a thrilling action-packed finale in the shafts of the building where the race to stop the machine coupled with the antics of the authorities tracking him, these here are what hold this up over it's few minor issues. There is one thing about this movie that really drags it down a notch. The film follows a constant cycle of killing someone off, conducting an investigation only to then come across another accident, then repeating ad nauseam. It gets frustrating as it keeps happening, and we know that something is wrong and it should be an easy find for those involved, yet it continues to be an unknown factor to the authorities to find out making this section of the film pretty discouraging. Another factor that really didn't sit too well as the fact that there are at least three different explanations given for the cause of the accidents, and all three have their evidence to back them up but it just seems like a bunch of different reasons culled together to be the official explanation and no one was willing to part with any of them so they were just mixed in at different points along the way. It would've been much easier to just pick one of them and stick with it. For such a cool premise, there is little to no real tension in the film. There was no real moment that really was all that suspenseful over anything else. This really needed some scenes of tension to get a sense of fear towards the elevator. Alongside the goofiness of the situation never really given much of a thought, these here are the film's issues.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Full Nudity and a scene with a child in danger

thesar-2 I'll be honest: I really just want to belt this one out. I have two more reviews to write and spending any amount of time on The Shaft (and not the good one) is too much time.ATTENTION: THE MOVIE IS ABOUT A KILLER ELEVATOR (or "shaft" or "lift.") Surprisingly, I've now seen three "killer elevator" movies: The Lift, Devil and now The Shaft. Believe it or not, it's better than Devil but a few floors down from The Lift – from what I can remember. It's been awhile and damned Netflix doesn't have The Lift so I can't revisit that shaky climb.So…I guess they're playing on people's claustrophobic fears of an elevator because, quite frankly, the idea behind the three films (three? Really?) is rather dumb. It seems a lot safer to avoid stepping into an elevator than the ocean, as JAWS 2 warns you.Beyond the obvious problems with this feature of a NYC high rise that has a touristy elevator with an attitude, such as terrible acting, laughable dialogue and a sad list of great (Watts) to good (Perlman) actors who should know better…is the length. I mean, really? This is a B-movie, it doesn't pretend to be anything but…and still they thought 111 minutes (when 80-85 would do just fine) was what they needed to tell their story of a, and I repeat: KILLER ELEVATOR?Okay, honestly, it's not the worst movie I've seen, or even the worst B-movie, and I have seen plenty. But, it's still far too long with just awful acting, namely the lead: Marshall as no-good-trying-better elevator repairman, Mark Newman. Also, though some (just a bit) of the "kills" the shaft produces are creative, most are just painfully obvious…for someone who can think of what goes through the mind of a KILLER ELEVATOR.There really is no point of going over the plot…but just to make it quick: It's profitable to keep the beaches (sorry, still on JAWS 2) I mean, one of MANY elevators open, even though there's been some mysterious deaths (and births…don't ask.) New-comer repairman Mark teams up with "smart, sexy and obviously in it for the money" Watts as Jennifer Evans to crack the case of the satanic shaft.It's not at the point of "so-bad-it's-good" but it's worth watching if you're on something. In which I wasn't. Honest. I thought this might be a good substitute to Netflix not having The Lift. I was wrong.

Brude_Stone This gets 2 stars instead of 1 because the production values were surprisingly good for such an otherwise poorly made movie. Terrible dialogue and plotting, and a story that...well, you just wonder why anyone put the amount of money into this movie it obviously took to produce it.Several named actors (Dan Hedeya, Ron Pearlman, Edward Herman) try manfully in their scenes to make the wordy dialogue work, as does a then little known Naomi Watts. I'd say I feel sorry for Ms. Watts, having to take roles like this while her best friend (Nicole Kidman) is doing Moulin Rouge! and other top films, but fortunately Naomi more than landed on her feet a year later with Mulholland Dr., which made her a star. We all have to pay our dues, I guess - this was part of Watts', and even Kidman had BMX Bandits in her past...

lastliberal Believe it or not this is actually a remake of a 1983 film called "The Lift." That title would not translate easily to America, so writer/director Dick Mass, who wrote and directed both films, renamed it The Shaft and set it in Manhattan instead of the Netherlands. Maybe he named it The Shaft as Shaft was already taken, who knows, but that name still wasn't good enough, so the renamed it "Down." What? It doesn't go up? It is really not as bad a film as many seem to think. I like original monsters, and a crazed elevator (or lift as they say in the old country) is interesting. You can certainly get some interesting kills, and we do here. We also get some interesting views from the top floors of the skyscrapers looking into apartment windows.Naomi Watts and James Marshall eventually join together to find the cause of these death, and wouldn't you know it, a mad scientist is involved. Kicked out of everywhere Dr. Gunter Steinberg (Michael Ironside) joins with an elevator repair company to install his microchips that are built with human flesh.Now, that is something I can use when writing reviews - a thinking microchip. "Hey, Ben, do you always have to comment on titties?" "Hey, Ben, you don't give enough credit to the monster." "Hey, Ben, how about a clever line on getting "shafted" in this movie." No, you won't get shafted, and I just have to do the work myself. The movie does have titties, but it also has Dan Hedaya, and I always like him.Check it out.