A tiny room that moves… what an invention!
I have just stepped into the elevator in my apartment building and now realize that while the doors have shut and my floor button is illuminated the elevator itself is determined not to go anywhere. I stand quietly for a few seconds which under the circumstances feels like a long time. In my mind a conversation is taking place between the elevator and myself.
“Umm… I pushed the button.”
“Yeah. I’m aware of that.”
“So… uh… are you gonna start moving soon?”
“Maybe. If I feel like it.” (pause) “Hey! Did you just press another floor button?!”
“No! I mean yes! I mean… not necessarily. Another person might have walked in here and pushed it. You don’t know. It’s not like you can see me.”
“Sure I can see you. I’ve got cameras.”
“Oh God. Is somebody watching me right now?”
“Maybe. Or perhaps you’re just being recorded. That means your panicky button-pushing won’t attract any immediate help but will make a hilarious viral video on YouTube.”
“I’d like to get out now please.”
The doors swish open and I dash out. Then I look at the digital readout above the door to see if the elevator has decided to move now that I’m not in it. It has. With a groan I head for the stairs.
Normally a little elevator malfunction wouldn’t affect me like this but I have just come home from a screening of the classic French crime film Elevator to the Gallows (1958) in which a stuck elevator spells doom for pretty much every character in the movie. The film does a great job of amping up the suspense in this otherwise less-than-disastrous scenario. For one thing the trapped man has just committed murder and is now unable to flee the scene of the crime. He’s also left evidence of his guilt behind and is now powerless to retrieve it. Plus his mistress (the victim’s wife) thinks she’s been abandoned and is now wandering around Paris heartbroken and insane. Oh and he’s also left his car running. This is how a good movie can turn an inconvenience into a dramatic calamity.
All of this flashed through my mind during those few seconds I spent in an unresponsive elevator. I particularly recall the moment the desperate man finds a trap door in the floor and tries to escape through it only to nearly get killed when the elevator suddenly begins moving again. Eep!
Other movies with scary elevator scenes rushed into my head all at once because that’s the way my brain works. I recalled the spring-loaded blade trap in the shaft in Mission: Impossible (1996). The plunging monster-infested elevator from Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). Lady in a Cage (1964) in which a stuck elevator leaves Olivia de Havilland at the mercy of a gang of heartless criminals. Elevated (1997) a short horror film taking place entirely in an elevator from the director of Cube (1997) who knows a thing or two about terror in small rooms. Finally there’s The Lift (1983) the Dutch horror film in which an evil elevator starts killing people willy-nilly. It’s one of the few feature films in which the hero is an elevator repairman.
Elevators are a brilliant and useful invention and they almost always work the way we expect them to. It’s just that “almost” part that makes us nervous. The reason we’ve all seen hundreds of films and TV shows in which elevators cause problems is because of that tiny niggling doubt at the back of our minds that these contraptions might not be as safe as we think they are. But please don’t worry about it. Put it out of your mind. The next time you’re in an elevator try not to think about the fact that you’re basically locking yourself up in a tomb with the assumption that it will open up and release you later if it’s in a good mood.
