The Facility

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.

"The Facility" has an eerie suspense in it, at least during the first half. Barnard, Coleman, Reid, Roberts et al are all capable performers and deserve much better scripts. Unfortunately I was able to see the direction the film was going by the time the first three "victims" had isolated themselves and gone bonkers as a result of the "pro-nine" drug they had been administered. It culminates in little more than a bloody mess, and a few brief follow-ups to signal that the 80-minute film is over - apparently it's based on an actual occurrence. I had been hoping for more of the eeriness, for example: when Katie discovers that Adam (Barnard) is actually one of the controls. The concept of people lured to a remote facility in order to earn money and finding out that they are being systematically tortured and left to their own devices is nothing new, but I thought that the first half-hour or so was very well done and suspenseful. Barnard is probably a star in the UK and is very expressive. He was also starred in "Citadel," which is even worse - louder and even less coherent and more gory than this ultimately disappointing thriller.

In summary, the acting was solid, the story was solid, and there was a lot of tension throughout. I am really surprised by the low rating for this movie. It is not a cheesy gore fest like a lot of movies out there. It uses the unknown and unseen which is often much more frightening. There are a lot of scenes where can only hear what is happening but that creates even more tension. You are along for the ride like the characters in the movie. They don't always see what is happening and you are left to wonder about the horrors of the unknown. Most of the characters are likable and you can feel sympathy for their plight. They don't fight and bicker constantly but spend most of their time trying to figure things out and survive. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and think anyone who prefers good writing to gore will also enjoy it.

No. We aren't falling for it. This is just a poor retread of 28 Days.

A bunch of people go to a remote facility to become human guinea pigs for some secret, unknown drug. Good premise, right?

Wrong. We are expecting the people on the drug to do some really freaky things.... maybe mutations, maybe hallucinations or visions, right?

No. Nothing like that. Just some short of breath people with skin rashes running around with no indication of what is going on.

The problem is the pacing. The movie moves like molasses. Plus, there isn't even enough molasses to make waiting worth it.

Here's my summary; A diverse group of English get a mystery drug, they run around like a Benny Hill skit, there is a tiny bit of violence and then BOOM, the movie is over and we miss most of the denouement.

Guys, it's a well acted, well produced movie. But those aren't a substitute for a story. Booo! Booo!

The story is almost a cliché of many preceded movies. The paradigm of getting rid of a group one by one has been used excessively. Blood scenes were made with good taste without having violence that we used to see as a stereotype of this category.

Disconnecting the internet and phones were an exaggerating idea since patients had access to the whole facility. Also the feasibility of leaving the facility but insisting on staying at it were unbelievable.

Last, but not least, the medical background of volunteers is questionable. It requires lots of knowledge even for physicians to be aware of all that.

The ending was good, but the whole experience was below satisfaction.