Lift to Hell, The Ghost of Revenge

From China, a ghost story! Yeah, yeah, we'll have our obligatory references to ancestors and water, but we can ignore those. Ghost stories from Asia are always so spooky. Throw in a really old hospital, hunk doctors, beautiful nurses and we have a demented 'General Hospital' type plot. Okay, maybe not, as the plot in this one is hardly standard soap opera, but one that lends itself to murder and carnage. Hence 2013's "Lift to Hell" (aka "18 Floors Underground"), directed by Jingwu Ning.

Nurse Ma (Qing Yang) is a haunted soul, that much is ascertained from her facial expressions. She'll leave her shift late at night, hop into the elevator and it all begins. Exactly what happened to this veteran nurse is not so clear, at least in the early part of this film. The elevator will drop to sub-level 18 (a neat trick, as this hospital only has two sub-levels. Her body will be found as the lift then returns to the lobby. Uh oh, the old and insane former doctor, Hu (Hongxiang Cai) will be next. Both these unfortunate souls received correspondence stating "Today it is your turn." The very dashing Dr. Lin (Blue Cheng-Lung Lan) is curious. He has seen a ghost while spying on  his sultry nurse girlfriend, Bai Jie (Chrissie Chau). The very educated peeping-Tom witnessed a ghost follow Nurse Ma into the elevator.

Lin begins asking questions and investigating. Vengeful ghosts are not amused by the curious. The beautiful Bai Jie emerges as a stunning damsel in much distress as indications suggest the ghost has a connection with her. But wait! Is she a damsel in much distress or is her relationship with the ghost something more conspiratorial? It doesn't take Lin long to trace the victims back to an awful incident at the hospital back in 1985. Doctors and nurses who were in on the decades old travesty aren't faring well, as you can imagine. As Lin plows further into the past he realizes that those he is most close to are in mortal danger. As we visit the past through flashbacks and the creepy sub-level 18, our ghost friend closes in on more of the guilty.

Will Lin end up on the ghost's list of enemies? Is the beautiful Nurse Bai Je in mortal danger, or is she someone to run away from? What did happen in 1985, and is there a connection to Dr. Lin...even though he was only an infant back then? Dr. Lin and Nurse Bai Je make a very attractive couple and we desire them both to survive the malicious specter. Yep, it is a 'sins of the past will come back to kill you' type plot.  Fans of Asian horror may find this one a bit tame, but the plot may creep you out next time you visit a hospital.