The James Gunn scripted THE BELKO EXPERIMENT (2017) is a
blast of high concept horror that, with a less commercially successful
pedigree, would have been a low budget film that turned up on NetFlix and
slowly built a cult following. As it stands, the movie is a low budget effort
with very good actors that flopped theatrically and will slowly build a cult
following. See the difference there? Yeah, the actors in this one make all the
difference in the world. In fact, THE BELKO EXPERIMENT is a great example of
how a strong cast of solid character actors can elevate a piece of exploitation
cinema.
The plot is basic and brilliant - an office building full of
employees is locked down so that no one can leave and then an impersonal voice
over the intercom system informs everyone that a certain number of them must be
dead in a certain amount of time or all of them will be killed. As you might
expect, mayhem ensues. Part Office Space, part Battle Royale the film is well
written and tightly directed with enough depth of characterization to make
events more tense than average. As stated, the cast is excellent and the dark
progression of violent demands on the trapped co-workers twists many everyday
annoyances that haunt all of us in our work lives into grim signifiers. The
ending is well played and carries a couple of good surprises making this a dark
ride but one I can recommend.
This time out the twist is that, at the behest of a
mysteriously threatening lady (the amazing Charlize Theron), model of
dependability Dom (Vin Diesel) turns traitor to his friends running off with an
EMP weapon capable of wiping out the electronics of an entire city. The rest of
his team have to figure out why he has done something so contrary to his
personality and stop his new cohorts from carrying out whatever bizarre plan they
have in mind.
It plays out with speed, humor and insane car chases while
the central mystery's solution makes all things clear and provides for another
deepening of the emotional manipulation at the heart of the series. Playing on
the heartstrings is part of this series' structure and family is the core
driving characteristic in these movies now, reflecting producer Diesel's way of
looking at life. It's a positive element that allows for relationships to grow
and the group of friends to enlarge even if it requires some selective memory
from film to film. Don't get me wrong - I like seeing Jason Statham brought
into the action on the side of the angels (and he gets a great John Woo
inspired sequence here) but didn't he flat out murder a member of their team a
couple of movies back?
Still- these are perfect popcorn munching, drive-in evening action
flicks that I'm glad are still being made. Dumb fun can sometimes be exactly
what is needed, especially if it can be done without being too insulting to the
viewers intelligence. Bring on number 9!
The List
BLUE
EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL (1974) - 7 (rewatch)
FOOTSTEPS
IN THE DARK (1941)- 8 (Errol Flynn comedy mystery)
THE
UNCERTAIN DEATH (1973) - 7 (Larraz drama of plantation madness in India
JOURNEY
TO THE SEVENTH PLANET (1962) - 4 (rewatch)
THE
BELKO EXPERIMENT (2017) - 8
WOMEN
OF SAN QUENTIN (1983) - 6 (TV movie about prison guards)
THE
SPELL (1977) - 5 (evil witch-child TV movie)
THE
BEYOND (1981) - 9 (rewatch)
WORLD
WITHOUT END (1956) -6 (rewatch) (silly, sexist, colorful SF)
BATMAN:
BAD BLOOD (2016) - 7 (animated tale)
MASSACRE
IN DINOSAUR VALLEY (1985) - 4 (terrible Italian made cannibal film)
THE
EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964) - 6 (rewatch)
PLAY
MOTEL (1979) -4 (ridiculous sexploitation/crime story)
IT
(1990) - 6 (rewatch)
THE
FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017) -7
PHANTOM
FROM 10,000 LEAGUES (1956) - 3 (rewatch on Blu)
3 comments:
Did you feel kind of sorry for the guy in the monster suit in Phantom from 10,000 leagues?
I feel a LOT sorry for him! I just hope he got paid well. Or at all!
If you could've played a monster in a movie which monster would it be? And if you say a Humanoid from Humanoids from the Deep I will have to kick you in your rapist nuts.
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