Rent Dark Floors (2008)

Finnish horror that never quite delivers ... - Dark Floors review by NP

This atmospheric horror film begins well, with a man Ben (Noah Huntley) concerned with the treatment his autistic daughter Sarah (Skye Bennett) is getting at the hospital at which she is being treated. Her doctor is played by Philip Bretherton, who I hoped would have a more substantial role, but sadly this was not the case. Other characters we meet are Tobias (Ronald Pickup), who again I thought would have more to do, and Security poser Rick (Leon Herbert). Apart from growling his lines so deeply as to be virtually incomprehensible, Rick contributes little also – and herein lies my ongoing problem with the film.

The story involves the gang emerging from the hospital elevator to find themselves in a deadly alternative dimension where, for the rest of the running time, ‘things’ happen. The characters are secondary to the story, and that’s a shame, because there’s not much of a tale being told.

Instead, we get frequent attacks from the monsters of the piece, played by members of Finnish death metal outfit Lordi. The main man, Mr Lordi, not only plays the lead monster (a kind of Predator/Klingon hybrid) but co-writes this. There is also a handful of leering CGI faces which, I’m sorry to say, fail to impress. The ending fails to end things on a high, which is a shame. My score is 5 out of 10.