Dark Floors — The Lordi Motion
Picture is a Finnish
horror film. The film was released in
February 2008 and features all of the
Lordi
band members playing the monsters.
Mr.
Lordi has also designed the logo of the movie. A new Lordi
song,
Beast Loose In
Paradise, is featured in the end credits of the
movie.
Story
Sarah is an
autistic little girl who is
currently living at 'St. Mary's Hospital', suffering from autism.
Her father, concerned about the state of the hospital, finally
decides to take his daughter home as a scanner catches fire with
Sarah within it. Boarding an elevator with others, including a
businessman, a nurse, a tramp, and a security guard, it soon
becomes clear all is not well when the elevator reaches the next
floor down - The hospital is abandoned. It soon becomes clear the
safety of the group rests upon Sara
Cast
Crew
- Director: Pete Riski
- Script: Pekka Lehtosaari
- Tomi "Mr. Lordi" Putaansuu (original idea)
- Pete Riski (original idea)
- Executive producer: Jukka Helle
- Production: Markus Selin
- Production company: Solar Films
- Distribution company: Nordisk Film
Production
Dark Floors was a concept Mr. Lordi had maintained interest in
since the beginning of Lordi - Horror films were a large basis of
the Lordi costumes and, with the production of 'The Kin' in 2004,
gained some experience. Shortly after the Eurovision victory, Mr.
Lordi asked the produce Markus Selin to contact him with any movie
ideas he may have. Mr. Lordi had worked in the past with Selin,
having being a storyboard artist.
Putaansuu originally expressed a preference for a gory film, a true
horror film which would have, in hindsight, likely have been more
popular. He, however, expressed this as a rather unintelligent
method of horror in comparison to that shown in Dark Floors - Even
if the horror aspect of the film isn't quite as strong as was
planned.
Actors
The vast majority of actors in the film are British, a choice made
by Mr. Lordi due to the large amount of small time British actors
who appeared in television while still being very much talented.
Small time actors were used partly so the movie is still seen as
'The Lordi motion picture', but also to use less budget. The actors
very much enjoyed working on the film, as was expressed in the
special features on the DVD.
The film was produced between March and April 2007. The general
public of Oulu largely played the background characters, from the
living nurses to the dead, yet animate, bodies. Amputees were also
largely asked for, to play the zombies, and many were willing to
collaborate. Each extra had five minutes screen time maximum.
Lordi's part in the film
All of the current line up of Lordi are present within the film.
Lordi were producing a track for the movie -
Beast Loose in Paradise, but this
was to only be present within the credits, so not to ruin the
atmosphere that became one of Dark Floors's strong points. The
Lordi members in fact, do not talk within the film, only
communicate with roars and growls. Stunt extras were in fact used
rather than the actual members when it came to segments of the film
difficult for the actual members to pull off, such as running in
OX's costume.
Awa was the only monster to be present through special effects -
her segments of the film were done so using
green screen, while the other members - Mr.
Lordi, Kita, OX, and Amen, were present on the set in theres.
Putaansuu designed the logo of the movie and came up with a large
amount of the story, as well as composing the track "Beast Loose In
Paradise' specially for the purpose. The film's atmospheric music
was composed by Ville Hang.
The band were involved actively in the Ozzfest tour at the time,
and in any cases they were away Stuntmen took over the job. The
members, however, were actively involved in the production of the
movie. An example of a scene without the actual member was that
within the morgue, when Kita pulls out a corpse's internal
organs.
Budget
The full budget of Dark Floors reached $4.3million, making it one
of the most expensive movies ever made in Finland. Most of the
budget was spent in special effects, sets, and a large marketing
campaign, along with 'finishing' the reel.
Scenery and Special Effects
The sets were the largest constructed in Finland, taking up a
massive 1700 square metres during the carpark scene. Electrical
work was very much conventional, using the same method as for a
family home. It was originally planned to stage the film in the
Baltics, but was eventually filmed in Oulu, with special effects
used to replicate a city when necessary. The production team
visited hospitals to understand how an X-ray works and looks, thus
adding authenticity to the CG-rendered ones present in the
film.
After filming the movie was 'polished', with Awa's parts inserted
after the movie's production. Special effects were a very important
part of the film's overall look, and have been complimented.
Advertisement and promotions
The film was to be completed and premiered in 2007, at the
Eurovision song contest. This schedule, however, was too tight for
the production crew to follow, and Lordi were unable to appear
should this have been used, due to the Bringing Back the Balls to
Europe tour. As a result it spread into May of the same year, and
was eventually rescheduled to December.
The press conference was held at the Cannes film festival from the
19th of May to the 20th of the same month in 2007. Lordi appeared
personally and answered any questions they were given.
Dark Floors was slowly 'leaked' by way of a marketting campaign,
and the press were permitted to witness the production of Kita's
lift scene, although everything else was kept under wraps.
DVD Releases
The film
was released on Region 2 DVD in
the UK
by Metrodome Distribution on 20th April, 2009, priced at
£12.99 RRP. The release includes several
extra features, listed as "Behind
the Scenes of
Dark Floors", "Cast & Crew Interviews",
and "
Dark Floors World Premiere featurette including
Q&A with Lordi, the cast and crew and a live Lordi
performance". The film is rated 15 by the
BBFC
for "strong bloody violence and horror".
The film became a top grosser in Finland, and rose to gold in the
Finnish DVD charts.
Elsewhere it has largely been criticised for confusing plots and
little explanation, but has sold reasonably well, with new DVD
releases in separate countries still taking place.
See also
References
- Solar Films
- DVD Times - Metrodome in April
- BBFC - Dark Floors classification
information
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