thesar-2 Day 1 of 14: Saved a bunch of money on my health insurance!I watch so many movies, many of which are horror and when I see one that's only 80 minutes, I'm stoked. Woo-hoo. Most are 2+ hours, including the wonderful Asian, specifically S. Korean gems. It's nice sometimes just to get in and out and still enjoy the experience of horror and escapism. But, this one. The Facility could've benefited from so many more minutes to flesh it out, so to speak. By the end, it feels so short-sided and eh, "barely anything happened," that we actually require more. Now, that said, what we got was well made.Eight volunteers, well, money-interested people, enter a 2-week medical research program only to find their first and only night the answer to the "is this safe?" inquiry. Things go from 0-600 in no time and panic sets in.A lot of this movie is doubtful, though I rarely trust the pharmaceutical industry. Of course they're gonna do bad things to make a profit. This felt a bit extreme and cartoonish for the most part. Entertaining as a "fictional" film and horror movie, sure. But, the suspension of disbelief is really out there. Of course, in the trump-era of the World, I guess this could really happen. I just hope it wouldn't. Bottom line: the movie does have good acting with character(s) (at least one, maybe 2) we care about, well shot and plausible situations/dialogue, but nothing much happens aside from stuff we've seen before and things we could've seen expanded on had this movie been longer. Mildly recommended as it does its job for the short 80 minutes it has our attention. ***Final thoughts: Coincidentally, I selected this as a double-feature I had not planned with Unsane for a nice Friday Evening alone with the Movies. Both worked well each other, though Unsane was 10x the movie this was, I'm not upset I saw both. It's a nice duo for anyone to select for a movie night in. They both complement each other and you can really enjoy them both for entertainment.

Leofwine_draca THE FACILITY is another film about a medical trial gone wrong, in which a number of diverse characters are locked inside a medical research institute and tested with some new drugs which have unusual and unexpected side effects. This film has almost exactly the same story and execution as the American-made LAST EXPERIMENT, which was also disappointing.I think the problem with such films is that they feel very loosely-plotted and predictable. The viewer knows from the very beginning that things are going to go violently wrong so the first half of the story, the set up, is very boring as a result. This film has a cheapness of look that's not helped by the clichéd blue filter used in all of the scenes to make the setting look cold and clinical.Recognisable cast members are limited to Alex Reid (from THE DESCENT) and that's about it. The characters are thinly-drawn and quite unlikeable and that's even before the story gets going. And once things do kick off, they do so in a predictable way that remains predictable until the end. Sure, there's some gore and bloodshed here, but THE FACILITY is depressing more than anything else and certainly never horrific.

bowmanblue 'The Facility' is about a group of middle-to-upper class people who volunteer to test a new drug called Pro9. If you can get over the fact that all but one appear far too well-to-do to feel the need to be human guinea pigs, then you have a reasonable premise for a horror/thriller movie.Naturally, things go wrong. The drug makes people go crazy and look like they're suffering from extreme sunburn. I'm sure the writer wanted to convey a message about how bad pharmaceutical companies are. However, if that was the 'hidden message' then it's a little too well hidden.What transpires plays out like a low budget zombie film (almost like a rough prequel to 28 Days Later). When the side effects start to show themselves in the test subjects, they just go crazy (think 'The Infected' from 28 Days Later) and, due to the 'sunburnt-effect' make-up, appear like zombies.What's left is people running and hiding from their former colleagues all the way through it.That wouldn't be so bad if the characters were a little more defined. However, half the test subjects are pretty unlikable and the others (even the good ones we're supposed to root for) are just too bland for us to be bothered about. The acting is as good as you can expect, but it isn't the actors' fault that they have so little to work with.It's not the worst horror/thriller film out there, it just probably could have been a little better.

carolshelleykeats I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Ian Clark's first feature film, being familiar with his classic shorts, particularly the heart-warming 'Def ' and 'Jenny and the Worm'. This tense, tightly- controlled movie focuses on a drugs trial that goes horrifically wrong, with seven 'guinea pigs' from various backgrounds and professions coming together to test the drug Pro 9. The resulting tragic consequences lead to escalating tension as each participant realises they may be next in line to react violently to the drug. Blood and gore is in evidence here but never overdone. In fact, suggestion is all, and Clark's intelligent script, clever camera-work and the omission of overblown music bullying the emotions, allow the viewer's imagination free rein. Claustrophobic scenes of characters in close-up in tight spaces add to the tension, and although there are familiar and unfamiliar elements from the horror genre this is a new and refreshing angle on a neglected subject. There are some loose ends, there's some less than convincing acting at times, but 'Guinea Pigs' is a fine example of what can be achieved on a low budget. An impressive debut, and an exciting foretaste of Ian Clark's next film venture. I, for one, can't wait.