Review of The Belko Experiment (2017) by Wes I — 27 Jun 2017

Carnage-slasher flick on a weird, corporate level.

Attractive cast gets to off each other in gruesome ways, sometimes in ways that will surprise even jaded viewers. But in the end it's all for nothing special.

Not even the barest modicum of a plausible explanation (in a Hollywood way) for all this violence and money-spending for a mid-nowhere fortress. The only thing that will keep your interest is what this is all about and who if anyone in the group is in on whatever secret is behind this mayhem.

Which the ending pulls out from under you with a meh-like denouement. As I've mentioned there are a few surprises here and there, but mostly the person you think will make it makes it, and those you expect to die, die right on cue.

Try "The Stanford Experiment" for more intelligent fare. Hell, watch "Dredd" for a much more entertaining film about people trapped in a building and wondering who's gonna buy it, next. The only thing you'll recall about this when it's over is "What a dumb ending" and "Boy, did these guys watch Irreversible a lot of times, or what?" Too many characters come and go for us to retain interest in them, and the degeneration into "Lord of the Flies" rule-book playing happens so fast you'll forget the first 30 minutes even happened.

Not as exciting or creepy as I'd hoped. More for the crowd who just enjoy splatter-effects. The violence here is so impersonal and cold as to be clinical. Maybe that was the point, but it made for ugly viewing. Showing violence for the sake of showing it is...well, kind of like this film too often: lurid.