lundi 29 septembre 2014

Dark Floors: the Lordi movie

Today I watched one of my favorite dvd: Dark Floors, a horror film. With this movie, I discovered one of my favorite bands: Lordi. The film was directed by Pete Riski, a good friend of the singer, Mr. Lordi. The peculiarity is that the monsters in the film are played by the members of the band Lordi, in their own costumes.


To summarize, the film tells the story of a young girl, Sarah, autistic and hospitalized by his father, Ben, who is very concerned for her. One night, Ben tries to make out his daughter out of the hospital, but while they are in the elevator with four other people, the lights go out and the elevator stops on the 7th floor. When the doors open again, the group realizes that the hospital is deserted, and there reigns an abnormal silence. Worse, the infernal creatures invade the hospital and attack anything that moves. And now, everything seems related to Sarah, who seems to know more than the others about what is happening.

Dark Floors is a horror film that uses conventional codes of any horror movie: a macabre and dark atmosphere with an abandoned hospital decor that is somewhat reminiscent of the famous horror game Silent Hill. We note that more the group down up the floors, more the atmosphere becomes agonizing, and the danger is in constantly increasing, and the number of monsters too, as if the group descended towards hell. Time is suspended, and the drawings of Sarah seem to relate to the events of the film, as if she knew in advance what will happen and she draws it.



Characters: 
-Sarah: The main character of the film. Sarah is a young girl declared autistic and hospitalized, but she seems possess gifts, because at no point in the film, she is terrorized by monsters, as if she was aware of their existence from the beginning. Stranger still, the monsters does not attack her (like the scene or Amen pass next to her without looking). Sarah seems to have a direct link with the monsters, as she speaks with authority to Mr. Lordi at the end, as if she tried to compel obedience.
-Ben: Sarah's father. Ben is an important character in the film, because it's sort of the last to die. Ben is a loving and devoted father who wants the best for his daughter and he really wants to protect her. He is rather brave (like the scene where he tries to hit Amen with a chair, or to crush Mr. Lordi with the ambulance). But ultimately, it is reduced to dust by the strange black mass that Mr. Lordi spread around him. 
-Emily: The nurse assigned to care for Sarah. Emily is a serious nurse, who seems much appreciate Ben and who also wants to help Sarah. As she works in the hospital, she may help others to move in the hospital and heal the wounds of others (such as when she helps Jon with his injured leg). Emily gets killed towards the end of the film, by zombies (probably brought to life by Mr. Lordi).
-Jon: A man with a suitcase. Jon is what I describe as "the prototype of the big asshole". It's a rather unpleasant character who does not hesitate to blame the others and is willing to do anything to save his life (even to try to sacrifice Sarah in giving her to the monsters). What makes Jon even more detestable is when he beats Tobias who trying to prevent him. But during the movie, Jon is bitten in the leg by Kita and is killed by Amen.
-Tobias: I would say the most enigmatic character in the film, even more than Sarah. Tobias is a rather elderly man (we do not know how old he is), but as Sarah, he seems to know what is happening and is not concerned about the situation. Tobias often speaks in riddles, and it is quite complicated to understand what he want to say, and once again, Sarah is the only one who can understand him. Despite its mysterious nature, Tobias is a good person because he wants to save Sarah from Jon, and he saves Ben who was going to be killed by Amen (unfortunately, Tobias gets killed by the mummy just after)
-Rick: The security officer. Rick is the character that represents the strength and the law in the film. He wants to do everything to help others, but it has a poor relationship with Jon, who can not stop criticizing him. Rick also knows how to use his weapon, even if it proves useless against the monsters. Rick is the first to be killed in the film, by Ox.


Monsters:
-Awa: Awa is the first monster to appear in the film. It's a ghost, levitating in the air, able to pass through walls and also to push a such powerful screech that can blow glass. Awa seems to be very sensitive to light (as in her first attack, or she disappears after being touched by the light of a scanner). She appears much later, attacking Emily, but she disappears after that Sarah looked at her with an angry look.
-Kita: After Awa, Kita appears. It is an alien monster with a huge jaw and seems much loving human flesh (Is not Jon?), Or when he eats the entrails of a dead body on a stretcher. In his last appearance, he tries to attack Emily, but she manages to push him back by making him electric shocks. As Kita no longer appears after this scene, we do not really know if he survived or not.
-Ox: Ox aka "the brute!" Indeed, it's a minotaur, rather big and beefy, with a terrifying head of big brute, whose favorite pass-time is to destroy the walls and doors with his fists. In his first scene, he attacks the group of survivors, perhaps to try to catch Sarah and he kills Rick who was trying to shot him with his weapon. In its last scene, Ox tries again to attack the survivors, but they manage to retreat into the elevator and Ox no longer appears after that. In the film, Ox is invulnerable (as Rick can attest), and he runs pretty fast (for a monster of his size)
-Amen: You tell me, a mummy in a hospital it's not logic. That's true, but a ghost, an alien and a minotaur, you think it makes sense too? No. And it's a horror movie, so all is possible. In short, Amen is a mummy, rather aggressive with a short temper and a truly terrifying head. He has powers like teleport or trigger sandstorms. In his first scene, he killed Jon (thank you Amen!) And later he was impaled by Tobias (But Amen seems to like to have the last word, and impales Tobias into a kind of "hug of death")
-Mr. Lordi: The leader of the monsters, and certainly the most dangerous: Mr. Lordi, a monster that looks like some sort of evil lord with a too cool armor. Mr. Lordi has powers related to the dark: he appears to produce darkness behind him, which can spread like a living being, and he seems to control it as he want. Mr. Lordi is the last monster to appear, and Ben tries to crush him with an ambulance. Mr. Lordi is the only monster of the movie to"talking" with Sarah, and she seems to have a strange connection with him, as if he was her dark side that wants to get out, but she refuses, otherwise everyone will die.


Although the film is quite difficult to understand at times, even after having seen more ten times as I do, and even if he got a bad review (people have no taste nowadays, it's horrible!!). Dark Floors is a very good movie, with a good atmosphere, good actors, and very great monsters (LORDI!!!)




                                                                                  Mathias, the Lordi Rider
                                                 




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