Elevator Game – Shudder Review (2/5)

ELEVATOR GAME on Shudder is a horror movie that should entertain most but doesn’t bring much new to the table. And that’s okay. It’s still worth watching if you’re in the mood for a story with a solid horror vibe. Read our full Elevator Game movie review here!

ELEVATOR GAME is a new Shudder horror movie. It had me at first, it really did. Unfortunately, it just couldn’t keep that solid hold it had at first. Not for me anyway. However, I can definitely recognize that it has a solid horror vibe going on and I think it will entertain many horror fans.

Maybe even wow some, but not everyone. Well, not me, anyway. And that’s okay!

Continue reading our Elevator Game movie review below. Find it on Shudder from September 15, 2023.

A new horror game

In Elevator Game, we follow the socially awkward teenager Ryan. His sister has disappeared and he discovers that she had played “The Elevator Game” the night she disappeared.

This is a new horror game not unlike Candyman or even the one we see in Talk to Me. In other words, a ritual that takes place in an elevator and results in something scary. In the case of this particular game, those who play the game are attempting to travel to another dimension.

In order to achieve this, they follow a “recipe” where you use a specific elevator and push the buttons in a specific order. Obviously, the recipe is readily available online, so Ryan ignores all warnings. After all, he is looking for his sister and I’m sure many siblings would have done the same.

Why anyone would attempt to enter another dimension using an elevator in a strange building is beyond me. But I would never try the Talk to Me-hand either, so I’m definitely not in the demographic for this new horror game. Also, I don’t like elevators, so it really isn’t for me. Obviously!

The cast of Elevator Game 

If there’s one thing I did find intriguing, it was the cast of Elevator Game. Especially because I have a sneaky suspicioin we’ll be seeing many of the young talented actors in plenty of genre movies in the years to come. And that’s a good thing.

In general, they had a good feel for that delicious horror vibe. Some of them managed to bring charm and humor to the table as well. Not all the characters where written with this as an option, mind you, so I’m not saying they couldn’t all have been charming and funny.

You may not recognize too many of the actors. I certainly didn’t and that was fine by me. The cast included Gino Anania (Safehaven), Alec Carlos (Tales from the Loop), Megan Best, Nazariy Demkowicz (Radius), Verity Marks, Adam Hurtig (Violent Night), and Liam Stewart-Kanigan (Orphan: First Kill).

Watch Elevator Game on Shudder!

The director of Elevator Game is Rebekah McKendry, and this is a name you may already be familiar with. Previously, Rebekah McKendry directed the 2022 Shudder horror movie Glorious which was batsh*t crazy in glorious (yes, pun very much intended) ways. Do check out that one – it stars Ryan Kwanten.

Also, she directed All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018) with her husband David Ian McKendry. As indicated by the title, it’s a Christmas movie. Or a Christmas horror anthology, to be exact. David Ian McKendry also worked on Elevator Game as the screenwriter along with Travis Seppala.

As a rule, horror fans should always check out anything directed by Rebekah McKendry. I mean, she is very much a horror fan, so it’s not “just” that she’s making a horror movie. Her previous productions should tell you as much.

However, the fact that she also produced the 2021 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is where her love of horror really comes across for me. Well, along with her movies, obviously. For me, they can be a bit hit or miss, but I never regret watching them and I always see something I like!

Elevator Game is out on Shudder from September 15, 2023.

Details

Director: Rebekah McKendry
Writers: David Ian McKendry, Travis Seppala
Cast: Gino Anania, Alec Carlos, Megan Best, Nazariy Demkowicz, Verity Marks, Liam Stewart-Kanigan