(spoiler free)
From the mind that brought ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ to the big screen comes new horror thriller ‘The Belko Experiment’. For any of you who thought you’d had a bad day at the office writer James Gunn is out prove that you ain’t seen nothing yet! With no way out of their office block and a mysterious voice demanding horrors of the workers over the intercom the employees of Belko Industries are forced to enter into a deadly fight for survival.
As you would expect there are a range of different characters present here, as there would be in any office block. We get briefly introduced to quite a number of these in the opening scenes. Whilst there are clearly a variety of personalities held by the different employees none of them are particularly likeable. This isn’t necessarily a problem, and whilst it’s obvious who we’re meant to route for, a few more developed characters could have added to the film. The performances vary in quality but most serve their purpose and feel appropriate for the B-movie style of the picture. The cast is made up of a whole host of names from TV & film. You’ll be sure to recognise at least somebody with names like; John Gallagher Jr, Josh Brener, John C. McGinley & Michael Rooker involved.
The ensemble cast is far from being the highlight though as the best thing about the film is definitely the concept. Although it’s not wholly original it offers a fresh setting for this kind of film. As well as this watching the morals of characters play out never fails to be interesting. There is a good level of action throughout. The swift transition into the main narrative means that the pace rarely lets up and the level of violence will constantly keep you engaged. Attempts are made at injecting humour amongst this action but they never really succeed. They don’t take anything away from the film but the concept is strong enough by itself to do without them. The film builds well to the initially slightly underwhelming finale however given time to breathe the ending is one of the strongest elements to the film.
‘The Belko Experiment’ is riotous B-movie fun, with its killer concept and solid execution audiences won’t be disappointed. Sure it could have benefited from slightly more developed characters and not all the comedy lands but these are really minor issues. The ethics of the narrative always make it engaging and will make you think twice about your work colleagues! However it’s the cruel touches such as playing a Spanish version of ‘I Will Survive’ over the opening credits, among others, that make it so enjoyable.
Rating – 8/10
Question: What is your favourite B-movie?
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