Thursday, April 26, 2018

The Belko Experiment


As always, searching through Netflix’s titles for something I’ve never seen before, I came across The Belko Experiment as it had a very high rating average from other members.  Seeing that it was categorized as being in the horror genre, it piqued my interest enough for me to look it up and to read up on it. 

 

The first name that caught my eye was the name of James Gunn.  Many of you may know that name of the man who brought a little-known Marvel Comics property to the screen in a film called Guardians of the Galaxy, but I also remember him as the director for a pretty good throwback horror flick—Slither.  Gunn has also been a very successful writer of screenplays, such as Scooby-Doo, Dawn of the Dead (2004), Super, as well as the two—soon to be three—Guardians of the Galaxy films.  After seeing him attached to this title, I figured it’d be somewhat entertaining.

 

Although Greg McLean’s name didn’t ring a bell when I saw his name attached as director, I soon found out he was the director of a couple of Aussie horror flicks that I thoroughly enjoyed—Wolf Creek and Wolf Creek 2.

 

Along with a few familiar names in the cast, I decided to have this disc sent to me to watch, and so I added The Belko Experiment to my queue and awaited its arrival.

 

Let me synopsize the film with the help of IMDb’s plot summary…

 

In a twisted social experiment, eighty Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company’s intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.

 

From the start of this film, it had me interested, having all the characters introduced as exposition is given about how they all—as most of them are Americans—took this awesome job in South America, working for this American governmental building in the middle of nowhere.  But that’s when the uneasiness begins, especially when they notice there is a bit more security on this particular day as they’re all being checked in systematically upon entering the company’s grounds. 

 

Of course, this movie comes with the understanding that you’re going to need to suspend disbelief a bit—as most films of this caliber.  Certain features of the film might make you laugh at how absurd it is, but some aspects might make you ask yourself would you do the same if you were in the position of the characters on screen.  I’d give an example, but I really don’t want to ruin any of the surprises or shocks this movie will present to you upon first viewing.  All in all, as the synopsis above will tell you, this is a story about a deadly group test to see who has the best survival instinct.

 

So…what can I tell you?

 


Although most of the characters are cookie-cutter and run-of-the-mill clichés of your average good guy/bad guys, they still give you faces to root for and others to jeer.  Even though the subject matter is pretty serious, there’s always room for the comic relief which is brought forth in the shape of Sean Gunn as he plays Marty, the stoner employee of the Belko Corporation.  Some of the dialogue he delivers is pretty funny and alleviates the tension in some of the scenes.

 

Now the main character of Mike, John Gallagher Jr., was someone who I didn’t know at all and wondered why they’d have an unrecognizable actor in the lead.  When reading up on him, I realized that I did see him in a couple of other films—Hush and 10 Cloverfield Lane—but he really wasn’t the center of attention in any of those movies, so he never really left an impression on me.  But as the film went along, it became clear that the story needed him to be the regular-everyday-good-guy that felt a moral obligation to save whoever he can rather than taking the easy way out.

 

In watching this movie, it basically asks you a theoretical question: What would you do in this situation?  You’re stuck in this building, with no way out, and you’re given a choice to kill other people to save yourself.  It’s a tough dilemma, that’s for sure.

 

Now, Tony Goldwyn plays Barry, the manager of the employees and, at first, plays it as the protagonist, trying to have everybody remain calm and to reassure them that they’ll all make it through this.  Seeing him in this capacity surprised me as I can’t help but remember him as the antagonist in Ghost opposite Patrick Swayze.  Sure enough, however, after it’s apparent that the only means of escape is to do what the voice over the intercom tells them to do, he turns into the nemesis we all know he’s destined to be. Also along for the ride in the bad guy train is John C. McGinley as Wendell.  Both men are portrayed as former military and have an edge over everybody else in their experience with combat and taking the offensive.

 

You’ll see Michael Rooker in this as Bud the maintenance guy and although he really doesn’t play into the plot, it’s good to see a James Gunn alum involved here.

 

What’s my final “bit” on The Belko Experiment?

 

Overall, the movie is a lot of fun and will hold your interest throughout, especially to see what will be the outcome of all this.  I guess this film can be categorized as a thriller—not really a horror film, but it does have it’s bloody moments.  When the gore hits, it’s pretty wild and shocking, coming out of left field and upping the ante.  The few main characters go through quite a bit in this film and you can totally understand what they’re all going through, wondering if you’d have the audacity to do the unthinkable or the moral obligation to do what’s right.  The Belko Experiment will definitely make you think twice if you’re ever offered a government job in a country outside of the United States.  Check this one out, you’ll really enjoy it.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

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