A friend suggested that I grab myself a copy of this sci-fi/horror as he thought it would be right up my alley. “It’s about a group of guys that are stuck in a room doing a clinical trial.”
I told him I’d seen it back in 2012 (I was thinking of The Facility which had a near identical plot). I was mistaken. I didn’t watch the trailer or read the synopsis and instead sat down waiting to be surprised. I wasn’t.
Where do I start? The plot? As you probably already know, this is not a new idea. The whole “clinical trial gone wrong” schtick has been done before, and it has been done better. This one wasn’t done badly, it just wasn’t done all that well. There were a number of holes in the story but there were also a handful of clever little “Aha!” moments towards the end of the film that added a bit more substance; something which was most definitely lacking.
I tend to be doing a lot of reviews lately on movies filmed in a single location. I don’t know if this is just a trend in the horror genre or a string of coincidences. Either way, it does not, in this instance, detract from the film in anyway. This movie relies rather on the diverse group of characters and their behavior and actions in the room…and therein was the biggest problem with the movie.
Overacting. All of the characters were guilty of it (except maybe for Katharine Innes) and it pretty much ruined my impression of the movie. I am not blaming the actors though as the script could probably have used some serious overhaul and the director did very little to reign it all in. It was as if a group of stage actors were putting on a show and all were trying very hard to outdo one another. I didn’t hate it though. Some scenes were difficult to stomach and Paul Henri’s character, Corey, made the movie almost comical, but it was entertaining in it’s own right.
The special effects were below par at some points and passable at others and the powers were creative enough. There was obviously a pretty limited budget and I’ve seen far worse movies at far higher expenses. If you have a spare eighty minutes and a penchant for B+ sci-fi/horrors like I do, then this will fill that gap. I can’t give it more than a 5/10 though.
Watch the trailer below
