Dark Floors

Dark Floors / Dark Floors. FI (c) 2008 Solar Films. CO-PC: The Icelandic Film Company / Kisi Production. P: Markus Selin. D: Pete Riski. SC: Pekka Lehtosaari - from a story by Mr. Lordi and Pete Riski. DP: Jean-Noël Mustonen - shot on Super 16 mm - digital intermediate by Generator Post - screening format 35 mm 1:2,35. AD+COST: Tiina Anttila. Make-up: Mari Vaalasranta, Jim Udenberg. M: Ville Riippa, performed by the Czech Film Orchestra. Original song during end credits: "Beast Loose In Paradise" by Lordi. S: Jyrki Rahkonen. Lordi: Mr. Lordi (songwriter, lead vocalist), Amen (guitar, background vocals), Kita (perc, background vocals), OX (bass, background vocals), Awa (keyboards, background vocals). Roles: Skye Bennett (Sarah), Noah Huntley (Ben), Dominique McElligott (Emily), Leon Herbert (Rick), William Hope (Jon), Ronald Pickup (Tobias), Philip Bretherton (Walter). Original in English. 84 min. Released by Nordisk with Finnish subtitles by Aretta Vähälä & Pekka Lehtosaari. Viewed at Tennispalatsi 6, Helsinki, 9 Feb 2008. A vehicle for the Finnish hard rock / heavy metal band Lordi, famous for its elaborate monster characters and ambitious music videos directed by its house director Pete Riski. "Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind / es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind", wrote Goethe in his poem "Der Erlkönig", a classic of German Romantic horror. The poem is the vision of a dying child whom its father is trying to save. Dark Floors is a modern and original version of the classic concept. The framing story is about an autistic girl stuck in a magnetic resonance imaging machine, and the film draws us to join her in her journey to the dark floors of death. During her voyage she meets the various Lordi characters. The concept is strong, and the result is serviceable with good music and sound design but there could be more build-up of tension, the characters remain flat, the actors play one note, and the digital intermediate look is not very exciting on the big screen. Worth seeing for fans of Lordi and horror films.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordi (much more thorough in the Finnish edition)