Hellevator: The Bottled Fools is set in a dystopian future somewhat reminiscent of THX1138. Apparently the outside world is no longer fit for human habitation so everyone is forced to stay indoors. Large elevators are used to get from one place to another and the commute time on these vehicles seems to be substantial for most people. After dropping an illegal cigarette and running away from the police, thus starting a chain of events that culminates in a large explosion a few minutes later; Luchino Fujisaki, a seventeen year old telepathic schoolgirl who has recently been released from a mental institution in spite of her ongoing violent urges and/or delusions, enters one of these elevators. The elevator soon becomes a HELLEVATOR when a young, nervous police officer enters with two extremely dangerous prisoners moments before the aforementioned large explosion causes him to be distracted long enough for the prisoners to get the upper hand and wreak havoc. Eventually Luchino gets a little berserk herself and the bodies start to pile up. As this unusual scenario plays itself out each of the eight passengers is involved in multiple acts of violence and it's revealed that virtually every one of them has something to hide.<br /><br />Although rookie director Hiroki Yamaguchi pulls out a lot of tricks to make Hellevator at least moderately visually interesting, it's clear from the get go that the film was shot on a tiny budget. Still, there are some nice dreamlike special effects shots when Luchino enters the minds of her fellow passengers and the frequent gore effects were done fairly well. Yamaguchi also does a good job of creating some atmosphere, both in the green tinted elevator scenes and the interwoven interrogation scene that makes use of a dark blue color palette. Hellevator is a fairly well done cyberpunk movie that makes adequate use of an unusual setting but runs out of steam just before the inexplicable ending.