5. The Lift (1983)
Heralded as one of the greatest Dutch horror films ever made, the neon-drenched daymare of The Lift is inarguably the greatest story ever written about a biomechanical killer elevator with a mind of its own. The plot beats may feel familiar, but the ways Dick Maas layers in an almost Cronenbergian approach to flesh coming to feast on man is respectable, especially in the confines of a modern high-rise filled with residents slowly getting decapitated one way or another. (Jacob Trussell)
4. Candyman (1992)
From Candyman’s opening credits, we get the impression that Chicago and its high-rise buildings are, forgive the cliche, like another character in the film. While most slashers tend to operate in suburban sprawl, this one finds its horror in the utilitarian concrete blocks that populate the Cabrini-Green housing project. The setting is perfectly interwoven with the film’s themes around race and class, but it also feeds the myth. The high rises pack tenants in tightly and allow urban legends to be passed from neighbor to neighbor. If Candyman feeds on fear, what better way to find it than in a densely populated urban block, where cycles of injustice become stacked on top of each other until they reach higher than the buildings. (Anna Swanson)
3. Shivers (1975)
I’ve always found something a little dangerous about David Cronenberg’s early films. The concepts he was playing with – like the “good parasite” that turns folks evil in Shivers – are fascinating. He mixes strikingly original hard sci-fi with body horror through the lens of a quasi-zombie film. Except, in this case, they don’t want just to eat you. They want to bang you before playing with your guts while you scream in agony. Shivers is crunchy 1970s Canuxploitation elevated through its use of space, smearing blood and carnage across its patently modern secluded apartment complex. (Jacob Trussell)
2. The Shaft (2001)
No one knows Dick Maas like Dick Maas knows Dick Maas. That’s why when American producers decided they wanted to remake Maas’ 1983 cult classic about an elevator with a thirst for blood they called on none other than Dick Maas. Working with a bigger budget and armed with Hollywood stars – Naomi Watts, James Marshall, Michael Ironside, Ron Perlman, Dan Hedaya – Maas was able to polish up his earlier effort and deliver a more sleek but still cautionary tale about the deadly nature of elevators. An unfortunate post-9/11 release date saw the film largely pulled from its planned theatrical release. Viewers that did manage to hop on were taken on a wild ride from the first floor up to the penthouse and beyond. When it comes to going Down the Shaft, there is no one better than Dick Maas. (Chris Coffel)
1. [REC] (2007)
Living in an apartment you’re always aware of what’s above you and below you. I had never met the family that lived above me at my last apartment, but I certainly could hear them day in and day out, as if they were scattering millions of Lego blocks into every corner of their living room. As a reaction to them, I was far more careful about how much noise I made so as not to disturb the apartment below me. This spatial awareness is a core factor in why [REC] is such a great apartment-based horror movie. As our lead characters bound up and down the spiraling stairs toward safety and doom, we see that the high rise is a central part of the film’s forward thrust. But what the apartment building may lack in height when compared to other high-rises on this list, it more than makes up for in jaw-dropping intensity and gore to make for an exceptionally fun, nail-biting journey into found footage mayhem. (Jacob Trussell)
Our 31 Days of Horror Lists entries can be read anywhere from the basement to the penthouse.
Related Topics: 31 Days of Horror Lists
