When looking back at your day, an elevator may seem like a fairly insignificant part of the mix. If someone asks you what you did today, usually your response will be along the lines of, “Went to work, had lunch with the boss, came home…” Rarely ever will you say, “Well I hopped in the elevator and headed to the fifth floor…” This is because in everyday life, an elevator is viewed as a means of travel, an object that will merely take you from floor A to floor B with little significance in between. But in the world of film, an elevator is looked at as an opportunity to see the world or meet the devil; a place where ghosts can hide or an individual can be hypnotized. The possibilities are endless, and I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the iconic films that heavily rely on the passenger elevator.

Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
After Charlie Bucket proved to Mr. Wonka that he was honest and trustworthy, they hopped in the Wonkavator and blasted through a ceiling made entirely out of glass. From there the elevator soared high above the city and Mr. Wonka informed Charlie that the chocolaty empire now belonged to him. We seriously doubt that this scene would have had as much of an impact if it took place in the stuffy old office.

Tower of Terror (1997)
Five people walk into an elevator, but after the unit crashes down eleven stories, the ghosts of the victims wander about the hotel. Sixty years later a reporter and his niece are trying to solve the mystery behind the hotel and free the ghostly spirits. This movie may sound relatively plot less and pointless, but without the opening elevator shot, there would be no movie, and more importantly, no awesome ride at Disney MGM Studios and California Adventures theme park.

Shallow Hal (2001)
Hal is known for being one shallow individual, but when he becomes stuck in an elevator with famous self-help author and motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, he is hypnotized into only being able to see a woman’s inner beauty. Without this initial elevator sequence, Shallow Hal’s gal would not have been nearly as much fun to watch.

Inception (2010)
This movie was really pretty difficult to understand, and the elevator sequence in the second level of the dream sequence which takes place after they fall asleep in the escalade, but before they enter the snowy mountains of some far away land (confused yet?) wasn’t any easier. But from what I understand, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character was supposed to get all of the other characters into an elevator and wait for it to crash to the bottom, providing a “kick” that would wake everyone up and place them back in dream level one. You’ll just have to go see it…then this will all make sense; but trust me the elevator sequence was of great importance.

Devil (2010)
It seems like M Night Shyamalan has directed one twisted flop after the other since the glory days of the Sixth Sense, but this one took the cake. I am fairly certain nobody saw this film, and the only reason I have was due to a snowday and I was quickly running out of options on HBO.

Basically a group of strangers are trapped in an elevator, when they realize the devil is among them. I would offer up more details, but sadly there are none to give. Too bad they weren’t trapped in a ThyssenKrupp Elevator, which would have undoubtedly come equipped with a telephone to call for help. But that may have been a tad anti-climatic.

Gremlins (1984)
Okay, okay, you caught me. There are no elevators in this movie. But there is however a stair lift sequence that is so entertaining and ridiculous, that I just couldn’t help but metion it.

After reading this I hope you will stop to think next time about the importance of an elevator. It may seem like your everyday object, but Hollywood knows just as well as we do, that an elevator can completely turn things around (or at least take you through highs and lows).