Little Sarah (Skye Bennett) is a possibly autistic girl who is currently receiving a brain scan in hospital, but she is not happy, and after the machine performing the scan mysteriously malfunctions her father, Ben (Noah Huntley) rushes into the room and drags her out of it as she panics. She repeats that she wants the "red crayon", so once she is back in her wheelchair with her sketchpad she begins to draw her pictures. However, out in the corridor, Ben and the medical staff do not catch a figure approach Sarah and whisper something to her - is this significant to the events that occur once she gets into the lift?
Could be, although with Dark Floors it is difficult to be sure of anything much as lucid plotting is not its strong point. This was actually that old standby for rock or pop artists, the spin-off movie, and the band that it was centred around was none other than Eurovision Song Contest titans from Finland, Lordi. Their win at that continental music competition was a surprise, as they played hard rock while dressed up in horror-themed costumes, not the traditonal type of victor at a contest which usually saw bright pop or slushy ballads succeed.
Nevertheless, it raised Lordi's profile to quite some degree, and as a result their popularity too. They were already well established in their home country, and this film turned out to be the most expensive horror film ever made in Finland, if not the first horror film of any kind made in Finland, not a place well known for its chillers. The band's lead singer and main songwriter Mr Lordi was a self-confessed horror fan (as if you couldn't have guessed), and making a movie was one of his lifetime's ambitions, but this was no ordinary spin-off, as while you might have expected Lordi to head off on a Summer Holiday-style excursion or suchlike, actually for much of this they were reduced to glorified cameos.
Not even a mystery for them to solve, then, or a few breaks for their songs as if they were the live action Groovy Ghoulies, in fact the only time you hear their musical output is over the end credits. But to say there is no mystery is not entirely true, as throughout the viewer is left wondering what could possibly be happening to the characters who get stuck in that lift. They include Sarah and Ben, sympathetic nurse Emily (Dominique McElligott), a decidedly unsympathetic charity executive John (William Hope), and a strange old man (Ronald Pickup) who might well know more than he's letting on. Once the doors open, the hospital appears to be deserted and they spend the rest of the film working out why.
Not that they ever find out, and nor do we for that matter, but it seems to be something to do with the little girl whose, erm, psychic powers have landed them in an other dimension or something (as Emily attempts to put it). Every so often someone will succumb to a member of Lordi's attack on them, so the security guard Rick (Leon Herbert), having taken charge of the situation, is naturally marked out as the first to be bumped off. Surprisingly, director Pete Riski hasn't opted for all-out, paint the walls red gore for his fright sequences, and instead the film plays out far more atmospherically, emphasising the creepy location with some nice touches. Touches such as Emily telephoning herself on the internal line, or noticing the storm outside has been frozen mid-lightning strike. Dark Floors is too enigmatic for its own good, really, but created with an obvious respect for the genre, and unusual enough for what it is - a band's showcase that hardly features the band - to be worth your time if you like a curio. Music by Ville Riippa.
[Metrodome's Region 2 DVD has a Behind the Scenes featurette, premiere footage and cast interviews as extras, which go a little way to explaining what's going on.]
