DOWN (2001) (Blue Underground Blu-ray Review)

DOWN (2001)(aka THE SHAFT) 

Limited Edition (3000) DVD/Blu-ray Combo 

Label: Blue Underground
Rating:  R
Duration: 111 Minutes
Audio: English, French: DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1; English, French Dolby Digital Stereo; English, French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX; English, French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Dick Maas
Cast: James Marshall, Naomi Watts, Eric Thal, Michael Ironside, Edward Herrmann, Dan Hedaya, Ron Perlman
 

Director Dick Mass directed this American remake of his own film The Lift (1983) in 2001, which was a popular thing to do at the turn of this century, keeping the same basic premise and set-pieces as the original film wherein an evil-sentient elevator begins murdering people  in a busy high rise. The setting is re-located from Amsterdam to New York City, inside the Millennium Building, a fictitious skyscraper standing in for The Empire State Building. The film begins not with horny party-goers having a close call inside the elevator but with a group of very pregnant women trapped between floors and nearly running out of air, two of the women give birth inside the elevator, with a scene of one of the women's water breaking, fluid erupting onto the floor.  

Two repairmen from the METEOR elevator company are called into look into the possibility of a malfunction, we have Jeff (Eric Thal, The Puppet Masters) and Mark (James Marshall, Twin Peaks) who investigate but find no malfunction with any of the mechanical/operating systems. They give the elevator a clean bill of health the staff at the Millennium building resume normal operations, but the killer elevator proceeds kill in short order, including a pervy blind man and his seeing-eye dog, plus a security guard who loses his head. Both of these kills appeared in the original film but are expanded upon here, the decapitation scene is less rubbery looking, though more digital, and the blind guy drags his poor service dog down the shaft with him! 

Elevator technician Mark becomes our main guy this time around, and Naomi Watts (King Kong) play persistent underdog reporter Jennifer Evans, both teaming-up to solve the case, obsessed by the growing body count at the Millennium building. There's also a great cast of side characters played by familiar faces, we have Edward Herrmann (The Lost Boys) as the building manager Mr. Milligan, Dan Hedaya (The Hunger) as Lt. McBain, Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as Mark's boss at METEOR, and Michael Ironside (Scanners) as a creepy German scientist who is behind the evil A.I. that runs the elevators. 

Aside from the aforementioned blind guy and decapitation stuff  Maas also re stages the scene of a young girl playing with her dolly who is nearly killed by the menacing elevator, but adds a fun daycare element to the story with a stern, foul-mouthed nanny named Ilsa, which was fun. Also new is a high body count scene with the floor dropping out of the packed elevator, with people falling to their demise, bouncing off the walls of the shaft, which is rather fantastic and action-packed. Speaking of action, as where the original film featured the repairman facing off against the bio-chip based evil alone this one features an all out tactical response from the NYC S.W.A.T. team, a real amped-up finale that features a stinger missile launcher!

About the only scene that didn't really work for me was that of an annoying rollerblader (is there any other kind?) who gets sucked into the elevator on the bottom floor and projectile vomited onto the top floor observation deck. falling to his death one hundred floors below. The movie clocks in at nearly two hours long, so it takes a while to get going and the pacing if off from time to time, some of the green screen and digital effects leave a bit to be desired too, but overall if you liked The Lift (1983) I say give this American remake a watch, while I prefer the originals low-budget horror there's still plenty to enjoy with this more comic and over-the-top remake. Watching this again today I was struck how the art deco design of the elevator doors looks a bit like the Hellraiser puzzle box, I wonder if that was on purpose? 

Audio/Video: Down (2001) arrives on makes it US widescreen debut on Blu-ray and DVD from Blue Underground with a lovely new 2K restoration from the original negative approved by Dick Maas, looking great all the way around. Nicely sharp and detailed, colors are saturated, skin tones look good and blacks are solid. Audio options include both loss English and French DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 options, the surrounds get some good use during the action sequences, everything is well-mixed and balanced, though there's a lot of dubbed English dialogue which can sound canned.  This time around Maas did not create the score, other than the opening main title credit score, with the rest of it created by Dutch composer Paul M. van Brugge, plus songs from The Zombies, Chuck Berry and the most on-the-nose selection, Aerosmith's awful "Love in an Elevator". Optional English subtitles are provided.

Onto the extras we get a new commentary from Writer/Director Dick Maas and Stunt Coordinator Willem de Beukelaer moderated by David Gregory, a good track that details the music of the film, the genesis of the remake, how certain shots and stunts were achieved, and how the movie's commercial potential was hampered when six days into it's theatrical run the 9/11 tragedy happened, and the movie which contains shots of the doomed World Trade Center and references to terrorism and Osama Bin Laden failed to connect.

There's also a 9-min extra detailing the making of the film, I was astounded how much work went into making this one, building the marble-lined interiors of the building, the elevator banks, the exterior and rooftop sets, it was s an eye-opener. There's also nearly three hours of raw behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the film, theatrical and teaser trailers, and a gallery of posters, home video releases, stills and behind-the-scenes images. 

This 2-disc release comes housed in a clear Criterion-style Scanavo case with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring two art options including the original, The Down artwork and the alternate The Shaft artwork which accompanied the original 2003 Artisan DVD. The discs likewise offer up the same two key artwork options on their visage. There's a 20-page collector's booklet with new writing on the film by Michael Gringold, this includes cast, crew info plus chapter selection, and behind-the-scenes images and stills, plus various posters for this movie as well as Maas' Sint, The lift and Silent Witness. 

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Dick Maas and Stunt Coordinator Willem de Beukelaer moderated by David Gregory 
- The Making of DOWN (9 min) 
- Behind-the-Scenes Footage [Blu-ray Exclusive] (151 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD 
- Teaser Trailer 1 (1 min) HD 
- Teaser Trailer 2 
- Poster and Still Gallery (87 Images) HD 
- 20-Page Collectible Booklet with new essay by author Michael Gingold

Like the original this one is a lot of fun, totally absurd, not too serious or scary, but wonderfully cheesy with a great cast. The new Blu-ray/DVD combo from Blue Underground offers up a crisp HD  presentation, allowing fans to finally enjoy this one is the original scope aspect ratio with some quality extras.  

THE LIFT (1983) (Blue Underground Blu-ray Review)

THE LIFT (1983)

Limited Edition (3000) DVD/Blu-ray Combo

Label: Blue Underground
Region Code: Region-FREE
Duration: 99 Minutes 
Rating: R 
Audio: Dutch: DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1; Dutch, English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 ; Dutch Dolby Digital Surround EX 5.1; Dutch, English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1) 
Director: Dick Maas
Cast: Huub Stapel, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Josine van Dalsum

Synopsis: There is something very wrong with the elevator in a stylish office high-rise. The passengers never end up on the floor of their choice. They end up dead! When Felix, an inquisitive repairman, investigates the faulty deathtrap, he discovers that something other than malfunctioning machinery is to blame. Some dark, distorted power has gained control of the elevator for its own evil design. After his horrifying discovery is given the shaft by the authorities, he joins a nosy female journalist to battle the unholy force inside THE LIFT!

The Dutch 80's sci-fi horror flick The Lift (1985) opens inside the Icarus office building where a rowdy group of late-night revelers find themselves trapped in an elevator when the power goes out during a storm. One of the couples attempt to make the most of it, with the man groping the woman's bare breasts greedily in the dark, but soon the air proves too thin and they all nearly suffocate. Lift repairman Felix Adelaar (Huub Stapel, Amsterdamned) shows up to check out the faulty equipment but can find no malfunction that would account for the lack of air or any other mechanical-based issues. 

However, the elevator soon racks up a decent body count, beginning with a blind man who walks into an empty shaft and falls to his death, and a security guard loses his head when his he becomes stuck in the doors as the lift descends upon him. It's a fun scene, though the prop head looks mighty fake it is still a fun low-budget decapitation with his head falling several stories down the shaft, landing on the corpse of the as of yet undiscovered blind man. Another security guard, who was helpless to prevent the tragedy, though he didn't seem to try all that hard, can be seen puking into his cap when it happens. 

Felix makes several more trips to the office building to check on the elevator but each time finds nothing peculiar, though he does meet a reporter named Mieke (Willeke van Ammelrooy) who teams-up with Felix to get to the bottom of the seemingly murderous lift. What they discover is a weird experiment being conducted by Rising Sun, a manufacturer of microprocessors, who secretly supply electronics for the Deta Liften, the elevator company that manufactures the lift and who employ Felix as a repairman. His nosing around angers his boss, who puts him on a leave of absence, but Felix is already obsessed with the lift and he and Mieke continue their investigation on their own.

The movie is a weird little entry, the idea of a killer elevator is truly absurd, but is no less strange that a killer car (Christine, The Car, The Hearse) or dry-cleaning press (The Mangler), and Maas clearly knows that, but the actors play this straight as can be, and it makes for a fun, campy watch. There are some slow parts though, Felix sorting through various newspaper  clippings and circuitry diagrams for the lift can me a bit tedious, and the growing rift between he and his wife doesn't exactly set the film on fire, but the fun kills and well-crafted low-budget thrills make for a good watch with stylish visuals and an incredulous premise that somehow works.  

A scene involving a young girl playing in the lobby near a trio of lift doors is well done, she plays a game with the seemingly sentient apparatus, a sort of peek-a-boo that nearly ends in the young girl's death, crushing her precious dolly in it's doors. The finale of this one is a bit kooky, with Felix facing off against the lift's organic-microprocessor brain, but it does manage to squeeze in one more kill with the lift using it's tentacle-esque cables to murder one f it's creators, it's a fun scene and close the movie out on an appropriately cheesy/awesome note. 

Audio/Video: The Lift (1983) debuts on Blu-ray and DVD in the US from distributor Blue Underground with a brand new 2K restoration from the original negative approved by director Dick Maas, framed in the original 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The image looks solid with a nice looking grain field, the oftentimes neon-infused visuals pop in a low-budget sort of way, but there are certain limitations due to the source, with some scenes looking softer than others, but the transfer and encode look fantastic. Audio on the disc comes by way of a fun Dutch DTS-HD MA  5.1 surround mix with optional English subtitles, the surrounds get some use for this one, which is awesome. There are also DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo mixes in both Dutch and dubbed-English, the dubbed track is not too bad, but the dialogue obviously sounds more natural and less canned on the Dutch tracks, with the synth score from Maas also coming through with more power and fidelity on the Dutch tracks. 


Onto the extras we have a new commentary from Writer/Director Dick Maas and Editor Hans van Dongen moderated by David Gregory, a lively discussion as the director recalls making this low-budget horror film, how certain effects were achieved, creating the synth score himself and the inspirations seen in the movie from Jaws to Star Wars. He also tells of how actress Willeke van Ammelrooy was not a fan of his direction style, after the film wrapped she left him a cassette tape with notes on how to be a better director with actors, which he never listened to. There's a nine-minute interview with star Hubb Stapel, a continuation of his boat-tour interview we saw on the Amsetrdamned disc, speaking of how he came from a theater background, having appeared in a stage pay of Harold and Maude, being cast in the role, struggling a bit with how Maas directed, and the success of the film, and how he didn't receive any work after the film for another two years, despite how successful it was. The extras are finished up with a gallery of various poster and release artwork from various territories, behind the scenes images, still, Dutch and US trailers and Maas' 2003 short film "Long Distance". 

This 2-disc release comes housed in a clear Criterion-style Scanavo case with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring two art options including the original VHS artwork sporting the infamous tagline "Take the stairs. Take the stairs. For God's sake take the stairs!!!". The discs likewise offer up the same two key artworks on their visage. There's a 20-page collector's booklet with new writing on the film by former Fangoria editor Chris Alexander, this includes cast, crew info plus chapter selection, and behind-the-scenes images and stills, plus various posters for this and the American remake and John Carpenter's Christine. 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Dick Maas and Editor Hans van Dongen moderated by David Gregory 
- Going Up – Interview with Star Huub Stapel
- “Long Distance” – Short Film by Dick Maas (2003) (4 min) HD
- Dutch Trailer (4 min) HD 
- U.S. Trailer (2 min) HD 
- Poster and Still Gallery (88 Images) HD 
- BONUS 2o-Page Collectible Booklet with new essay by writer and filmmaker Chris Alexander

Blue Underground give The Lift (1982) a top-floor 2-disc release, the new 2K transfer looks great and the extras are a great value-add. I've only seen a handful of Dick Maas's movies, but I love them all so far, his quirky sense of humor an affinity for stylish well-staged thriller/horror action continues to please. In my opinion you can never have too much Dick Maas, and Blue Underground continue the love with this release, which coincides with their release of Maas' American remake of The Lift, Down (2001), starring Naomi Watts (Twin Peaks: The Return), also on 2-disc DVD/BD, and to be reviewed soon.  

AMSTERDAMNED (1988) (Blue Underground Blu-ray Review)

AMSTERDAMNED (1988) 

LIMITED EDITION (3000) 2-DISC DVD/BD 

Label: Blue Underground 
Release Date: August 29th 2017 
Rating:  R
Duration: 113 Minutes 
Region Code: Region-FREE
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Audio: Blu-ray: Dutch DTS-HD 5.1; Dutch, English: DTS-HD MA 2.0; French: Dolby Digital Stereo / DVD: Dutch Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX; Dutch, English, French Dolby Digital Stereo with Optional English, English SDH, Español Subtitles 
Director: Dick Maas
Cast: Huub Stapel, Monique van de Ven, Serge-Henri Valcke

Dutch slasher Amsterdamned (1988) comes to us from the director of the Christmas crime-slasher Sint (Saint) from 2001, but this action-slasher is maybe even more odd than that weird genre mash-up. Here we have a scuba-diving slasher stalking the canals of Amsterdam, and that's pretty weird, but also a rather good slasher film with strong police procedural elements and some keen action set-pieces. 

The film opens with a POV shot of our scuba-slasher stalking the canals of Amsterdam, his POV rising out of the water like the shark in Jaws, eventually coming across prostitute who's already had a shitty night, but it's about to get even worse. The black dive-suited attacker leaps from the canal and plunges a diver's knife into her flesh before dragging her into the murky depth of the canal. The next day her mangled corpse is hung from a bridge where it is struck by a passing tourist boat, her bloody body is dragged along the entire length of the glass-roofed boat to the scream-filled horror of boy scouts and nuns! The whole set-up of the first kill and it's aftermath is a real showstopper, this movie wastes no time getting it's hooks right into you! 

As more bodies emerge from the canals over the next few days it becomes clear that a serial killer is on the loose, and hard boiled detective Eric Visser (Huub Stapel, The Lift) is brought in on the case and the film plays out more or less like an Italian style Giallo crime thriller with some cat and mouse games between the cop and the killer with some stylish kills and a surprising amount of well-executed action scenes, including a thrilling speedboat chase through the narrow canals, which crosses over into the surface streets, it really puts to shame the boat chase in The World is Not Enough (1999), this is high-octane stuff, and not something you would normally find in a slasher movie. 

Detective Visser is a divorcee, and has custody of a young daughter named Anneke (Tatum Dagelet), we get a bit with her and a friend looking into the murders themselves, narrowly missing him, but at one point she walks into the bathroom and aims a gun at her father while he's bathing in the tub, and then.... nothing, no follow-up! WTF! This is a Dick Maas film, so I've come to expect some weird humor from him, and this movie does not disappoint, aside from the odd gun-incident Anneke answers the phone only to tell her dad's boss that he's in the bathroom, probably masturbating! There's also a strange pursuit of a youthful offender by Visser that ends in a bakery with the perpetrator face down in a cake, eating frosting with a fun exchange between the baker and cop, I really like director Dick Maas's strange sense of humor here. 

The kills in the flick are pretty great, we get stabbings, decapitations and even a suicide by harpoon gun, there's no shortage of creative kills. The killer in a decked-out in a black wetsuit and comes across like an aquatic version of the miner from My Bloody Valentine (1981) with the heavy breathing through a mask... and flippers, a very cool killer indeed and quite unique. The best kill scene for me was a young women on an inflatable raft that brought to mind Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) and the infamous trampoline scene from Eli Roth's fake-trailer for Thanksgiving (2007), great stuff.

On the downside there are some stretches of film that put the sleepiness right into me, there's a love story I didn't care for, but just as I feared I might be overcome by the sandman we get another great kill or some god awful 80's fashion or a quirky 80's synth music cue that brought me back from the edge of boredom, it's not a perfect film, but it's  an odd 80's Dutch slasher with Giallo-esque tendencies that's certainly entertaining, loaded with action and with a decent body count and a very peculiar sense of humor.

Audio/Video: Amsterdamned (1988) arrives on 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD from Blue Underground, framed in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1), benefitting from a 2K restoration from the original camera negative. The movie looks great, the 1.85 framing shows more information than my Shameless Screen Entertainment. Film grain is nicely managed, colors are robust, fine detail is abundant. Audio options include Dutch DTS-HD 5.1; Dutch and English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles, the Dutch 5.1 wins the day with the most dynamic presentation, but if you;re the kind of person that might prefer the English dubbed track, good news, it's solid, one of the better English dubs in recent memory.
  

Onto the special features, we begin with a brand new audio commentary with Writer/Director Dick Maas and Editor Hans van Dongen moderated by David Gregory of Severin Films which covers all the facets of making the film. There's also the vintage making of doc which runs 36-minutes, and a new interview with actor Huub Stapel who speaks for nine minutes while on a boat touring the canals of Amsterdam, the very same canal where the speedboat chase happens. He talks favorably talking about director Dick Maas, calling him the only Dutch peer of Paul Verhoeven, speaking about a accident during the speedboat chase scene in which he was injured and laid up for a few days. 

Stunt Coordinator Dickey Beer shows up for an 18-minute interview, he speaks about his start as a stuntman on A Bridge Too Far, before moving to England and working a Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones, and coming back to Holland to work on Amsterdamned. He goes into some great detail about filming the harrowing speedboat scenes and some mishaps along the way.The disc is finished up with a music video for "Amsterdamned" by group Loïs Lane, a song featured during the film;s end credit, directed by Maas, with a serial killer theme. There's also the Dutch and English trailers for the film. There's also an Easter Egg tucked away, more of the interview from Dickey Beer discussing his work on An American werewolf in London. 

This release comes housed in a Criterion-style thick clear Blu-ray keepcase, with a sleeve of reversible artwork, though I am not such a fan of the reverse option, it looks a bit too photoshop-style layout for my tastes. The Blu-ray and DVD discs mirror the artwork options on the sleeve. This release comes with a 20-page collector's booklet with cast and crew info, chapter selection and a new essay by former Fangoria editor Michael Gingold, plus images from the film, behind-the-scenes pics, and poster artwork.

Reversible Artwork Option 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Dick Maas and Editor Hans van Dongen moderated by David Gregory of Severin Films
- The Making of AMSTERDAMNED (36 min) HD
- Tales From The Canal - Interview with Star Huub Stapel (9 min) HD
- Damned Stuntwork – Interview with Stunt Coordinator Dickey Beer (1 min) HD
- Dutch Trailer (3 min) HD
- U.S. Trailer (2 min) HD
- Loïs Lane Music Video – “Amsterdamned” (Directed by Dick Maas)(4 min) HD
- Poster and Still Gallery (85 Images) HD
- BONUS Collectible Booklet with new essay by author Michael Gingold
- Easter Egg: Stunt Coordinator Dickey Beer speaking of his time filming An American Werewolf in London. (2 min) HD 

Amsterdamned (1988) is a fun action-slasher with strong police procedural elements, it's a bit long in the tooth at times but the general weirdness and brutality  of it kept me rapt, and the speedboat chase is damn epic. The new 2K restoration from Blue Underground looks and sounds fantastic and we get some nifty extras, this amphibious Dutch slasher classic has never looked better.


ATTENTION: From the Blue Underground Facebook page on September 5th 2017: 

AMSTERDAMNED BLU-RAY ANNOUNCEMENT:
After the AMSTERDAMNED Blu-ray was shipped to customers, we were made aware of some minor compression issues. Therefore, we corrected and will be offering a replacement V2 Blu-ray disc.

If you purchased AMSTERDAMNED and the Blu-ray Disc Art does not have Item# “BLU-BD-7072-V2” on it, you may request a replacement Blu-ray Disc by sending an email to AmsterdamnedBDreplacement@yahoo.com. You MUST include the following information in your email to qualify for a replacement disc:
· Your Name
· Complete Mailing Address (including country if outside the U.S.)
· Copy of sales receipt showing purchase of the AMSTERDAMNED Collector’s Edition
The V2 Blu-ray Discs will be available to mail out in approximately 4 weeks. We thank you for your continued support and patience!
THE LIFT and DOWN Blu-ray releases have been slightly delayed to ensure they don’t have the same issue.

DOWN (2001) (aka THE SHAFT) on DVD/BD from BLUE UNDERGROUND 10/10

DOWN (2001)(aka THE SHAFT) 

Limited Edition (3000) DVD/Blu-ray Combo 

Label: Blue Underground
Release Date: October 10th 2017
Rating:  R
Duration: 111 Minutes
Audio: English, French: 5.1 DTS-HD; English, French: Dolby Digital Stereo / DVD: English, French: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX; English, French: Dolby Digital Stereo
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Dick Maas
Cast: James Marshall, Naomi Watts, Eric Thal, Michael Ironside, Edward Herrmann, Dan Hedaya, Ron Perlman
 
You May Want to Take the Stairs…

When the express elevators in New York City’s 102-story Millennium Building start to malfunction, elevator mechanics Mark (James Marshall of TWIN PEAKS) and Jeff (Eric Thal of THE PUPPET MASTERS) are sent to find the cause. After a series of gruesome and deadly “accidents” occur, Mark joins forces with spunky reporter Jennifer (Naomi Watts of THE RING), who’s on the hunt for a juicy story. As the death toll rises and the building is sealed off amid claims of terrorism, Mark and Jennifer attempt to unravel the horrifying secret behind the mysterious behavior of the bloodthirsty lift before it takes them – and the entire city – DOWN!  

Michael Ironside (SCANNERS), Edward Herrmann (THE LOST BOYS), Dan Hedaya (COMMANDO), and Ron Perlman (HELLBOY) co-star in this big-budget remake of THE LIFT helmed by original Writer/Director Dick Maas (AMSTERDAMNED). Previously released on home video in a cropped full-frame transfer as THE SHAFT, Blue Underground is now proud to present DOWN in a brand-new widescreen 2K restoration from the original negative, approved by Dick Maas!

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Dick Maas and Stunt Coordinator Willem de Beukelaer
- The Making of DOWN
- Behind-the-Scenes Footage [Blu-ray Exclusive]
- Theatrical Trailer
- Teaser Trailers
- Poster and Still Gallery
- BONUS Collectible Booklet with new essay by author Michael Gingold

Sell Points:
- Writer/Director Dick Maas’ big-budget remake of THE LIFT finally arrives on U.S. home video in widescreen for the first time ever!
- WORLD PREMIERE of brand new 2K restoration from the original negative approved by Dick Maas
- Blu-ray features Full 1080p HD Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio for the ultimate home theater experience
- Exclusive Limited Collector’s Edition includes Blu-ray, DVD, bonus collectable booklet, reversible sleeve, and special packaging
- Exciting NEW Extras produced for this release
- Extensive online exposure on top websites, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Rue Morgue, Blu-ray.com, and many more
- National print advertising
- From acclaimed Writer/Director Dick Maas (THE LIFT, AMSTERDAMNED, SAINT) 
- Features an all-star cast, including Naomi Watts (KING KONG, THE RING, MULHOLLAND DR.), James Marshall (TWIN PEAKS, GLADIATOR), Eric Thal (THE PUPPET MASTERS, A STRANGER AMONG US), Michael Ironside (SCANNERS, TOTAL RECALL), Edward Herrmann (THE LOST BOYS, TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN), Dan Hedaya (COMMANDO, 
- “Maas Delivers Fun Horror Moments, Including a Spectacular Elevator Door Decapitation and a Bird’s-Eye P.O.V. of a Character’s Leap Off the Observation Deck!” – Digitally Obsessed

THE LIFT (1983) on DVD/BD from BLUE UNDERGROUND on 10/10

THE LIFT (1983)

Limited Edition (3000) DVD/Blu-ray Combo

Label: Blue Underground
Release Date: October 10th 2017 
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Audio: Dutch: 5.1 DTS-HD; Dutch, English: 2.0 DTS-HD / DVD: Dutch: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX; Dutch, English: Dolby Digital Stereo
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1) 
Director: Dick Maas
Cast: Huub Stapel, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Josine van Dalsum

Synopsis 
A New Kind Of Horror Lurks In The Shadows Of The Lift…

There is something very wrong with the elevator in a stylish office high-rise. The passengers never end up on the floor of their choice. They end up dead! When Felix, an inquisitive repairman, investigates the faulty deathtrap, he discovers that something other than malfunctioning machinery is to blame. Some dark, distorted power has gained control of the elevator for its own evil design. After his horrifying discovery is given the shaft by the authorities, he joins a nosy female journalist to battle the unholy force inside THE LIFT!

Huub Stapel (AMSTERDAMNED) and Willeke van Ammelrooy (ANTONIA’S LINE) star in this chilling cult classic from Writer/Director Dick Maas (SAINT), who also composed the score and later helmed the 2001 English-language remake, DOWN (aka THE SHAFT). Long unavailable on U.S. home video, Blue Underground now proudly presents THE LIFT in a brand-new 2K restoration from the original negative, approved by Dick Maas!

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Dick Maas and Editor Hans van Dongen
- Going Up – Interview with Star Huub Stapel
- “Long Distance” – Short Film by Dick Maas (2003, 4 Mins.)
- Dutch Trailer
- U.S. Trailer
- Poster and Still Gallery
- BONUS Collectible Booklet with new essay by writer and filmmaker Chris Alexander

Sell Points:
- Writer/Director Dick Maas’ chilling cult classic finally arrives on U.S. Blu-ray/DVD for the first time ever!
- WORLD PREMIERE of brand new 2K restoration from the original negative approved by Dick Maas
- Blu-ray features Full 1080p HD Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio for the ultimate home theater experience
- Exclusive Limited Collector’s Edition includes Blu-ray, DVD, bonus collectable booklet, reversible sleeve, and special packaging
- Exciting NEW Extras produced exclusively for this release
- Extensive online exposure on top websites, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Rue Morgue, Blu-ray.com, and many more
- National print advertising
- From acclaimed Writer/Director Dick Maas (AMSTERDAMNED, DOWN, SAINT) 
- Starring Huub Stapel (AMSTERDAMNED, SAINT), Willeke van Ammerlrooy (ANTONIA’S LINE, THE LAKE HOUSE), and Josine van Dalsum (ZUS AND ZO)
- GRAND PRIX – FESTIVAL D’AVORIAZ 1984
- “Ingenious Black Comedy Thriller… It’s A Wonder Hitchcock Didn’t Think Of It First!” – The Seattle Times
- “Fine Suspense… Plenty Of Laughs And Thrills!” – Variety
- “Surprisingly Effective!” – TV Guide
- “A Disturbingly Plausible Idea Made Vividly Real!” – Screen International
- “Intensely Wound Suspense… Some Nicely Eerie Set Pieces And Effective Shocks!” - Moria

DVD Review: AMSTERDAMNED (1988)

AMSTERDAMNED (1988) 

Label: Shameless Screen Entertainment
Region Code: Region 2 PAL 

Rating: Certificate 18

Duration: 109 Minutes
Audio: English, Dutch Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Dick Maas
Cast: Huub Stapel, Monique Van de Ven, Serge-Henri Valckke

WTF! Dutch people of the world, what was in the water of those famed canals in the 80's that lead to this? Hey, I'm not complaining, it's nutty as fuck and I sorta expected no less from the director of the Christmas crime-slasher Sint (Saint) from 2010 but even with that odd watermark in mind I wasn't expecting a scuba-diving slasher, no sirree. 

The film opens with a surprisingly effective POV shot of our scuba-slasher stalking the gorgeous nighttime canals of Amsterdam until he comes across prostitute who's already had a shitty night, but it's about to get even worse. The frog suited attacker leaps from the canal and plunges a divers knife into her flesh repeatedly before dragging her corpse back into the murky depth of the canal. The next day her mangled corpse is hung from a footbridge where it is struck by a passing tour boat. Her bloody corpse dragging along the entire length of it's windowed visage to the scream-filled horror of the boy scouts and nuns until it falls through the open-top roof, the whole set-up of the first kill and it's aftermath is a real showstopper, it gets it's hooks right into you! 

When more bodies emerge it's pretty obvious that there's a seial killer on the lose and detective Eric Visser (Huub Stapel) is brought in on the case and the film plays our more or less like an Italian style Giallo crime drama with some typical cat and mouse games between cop and killer with some stylish kills and a surprising amount of action including a fantastically over-the-top hi-speed boat chase through the canals and sometimes on the surface streets, it really puts to shame the boat chase in The World is Not Enough (1999). 

Detective Visser has a young daughter named Anneke and the film needed more of her, or at least some exploration of her character. At one point she aims a gun at her father while he's bathing in the tub, and then.... nothing, no follow-up! WTF! The film definitely has a weird sense of humor, aside from the odd gun-incident Anneke answers the phone only to tell her dad's boss that he's in the bathroom, probably masturbating! There's also a strange pursuit of a youthful offender that ends in a bakery with the perpetrator face down in a cake, eating frosting with a fun exchange between the baker and cop, I really like director Dick Maas's strange sense of humor here. 

The kills are pretty great, we get stabbings, decapitations and even a suicide by harpoon, there's no shortage of creative grue! The killer in a decked-out in a black wet suit and it comes across fantastically, like an aquatic version of My Bloody Valentine (1981) with the heavy breathing and flippers, a very cool killer indeed and quite unique. The best kill scene for me was a young women on an inflatable raft that brought to mind Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) and the infamous trampoline scene from Eli Roth's Thanksgiving (2007), great stuff.

On the downside there are some long stretches of film that put the sleepy boredom right into me but just as I feared I might be overcome by the sandman we get another great kills or some god awful 80's fashion or a quirky 80's synth music cue that brought me back from the edge of boredom, it's not a perfect film but it's  an odd 80's Dutch slasher with Giallo-esque tendencies that's certainly entertaining, loaded with action and with a decent body count and a very peculiar sense of humor.

Reversible Artwork 

DVD: There's currently no Region 1 North American edition of this nutty Dutch slasher but Shameless Screen Entertainment have come to the rescue presenting Amsterdamned (1988) uncut and in it's original aspect ratio (1.85:1) on Region 2 DVD. It's an attractive shot film and it looks great on DVD, not the most crisp or sharp image you will ever see but colors are vibrant and overall we get a nice video presentation  .

Audio options include choice of original Dolby Digital 2.0 Dutch or a dubbed English track with optional English subtitles. This edition is not exactly waterlogged with extra features but we do get a nifty behind-the-scenes making of documentary, English an Dutch language trailers, a reversible sleeve of artwork and the standard Shameless Screen Entertainment trailer reel. Would have loved to hear director Dick Maas offer up a commentary just to see what his thought process was during this film, where the idea of a scuba-slasher came from, directors like this need to be dissected and explored for further study, not really, but a commentary would have been appreciated for this nutty Dutch film. 

Special Features: 
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork 

- Exclusive making-of by Director Dick Maas

- Newly remastered English Audio

- Dutch Trailer

- English Theatrical Trailer 

- Shameless Trailer park

Verdict: I can think of precious few late-80's slashers that can outmatch this imaginative and nutty Dutch entry, it's a definite recommend and I give it creativity points on the concept and execution alone, just when you think you've seen it all Dick Maas and the Dutch are there to prove you wrong. 3.5 Outta 5 

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