Errors of the Human Body

Firstly the marketing is clearly wrong as horror it is not. Secondly it is just way too long, it has no substance to it whatsoever. Thirdly don't employ a TV actor who believes themselves to be a method actor as they take the job way to serious. This is the key problem with this film, it wants to be a serious piece and as the genre elicits it cannot be taken seriously. In the end you are just bored and care nothing for any of the characters, as for the actual ending, well that goes on for about thirty five minutes but feels like another hour and a half.

It's a Science Fiction movie, that has some nice moments in it. The lead actor is good (and you might remember him from a special Fringe episode or other stuff he has done), but since this is sponsored by German money, there had to be at least one lead German actress in it too. her accent gives her away. But we also get another European actor (one you might have seen in "Painless" recently).

If you don't mind being overpopulated by Europeans (that goes out to American readers obviously), you might find yourself enjoying this a bit. It might redeem itself towards the end, but that only can happen, if you are willing to sit through some clichés. There is some brief nudity, just in case you were wondering, but there aren't many action scenes. It does try to build solely on its tense moments through storytelling

Some renowned but traumatized geneticist named Burton takes a job in Germany to establish some research lab there. We learn that his son was born with multiple cancers that developed in a matter of days and killed him. The disease came to be known as Burton's disease. His wife has already someone else in her life but he can't get over her. He's a complete wreck.

At the institute he runs into Rebekka, a former student who surprises him with some remarkable news. She's developed an easter egg gene that re-generates tissues in amphibians. She cuts one in half and it starts uniting again. But she needs him to help her make the jump to mammals. But they also had a fling in the past.

Also at the lab is another creepy researcher named Jarek who's also interested in Burton helping him. He wants to develop a mutation so that mosquitoes carry vaccines instead of viruses thus immunizing those they bite, instead of infecting them. It would be a great way to get eliminate diseases like malaria, so common in poor countries where mosquitoes abound. But because he's so creepy, acting more like a stalker, Burton doesn't want anything to do with him. But this guy is also experimenting on mice.

Burton gets closer to Rebekka, who initially makes it clear that she wants the relationship to remain professional. One night he goes to her lab to leave a note. Instead he finds someone breaking into her lab and stealing a sample. He follows the guy to the mice lab where Jarek is. He uses the sample to inject a mouse. Burton decides to wait and later takes the mouse home with him and also one of Rebekka's many samples that Jarek has in the fridge.

When Burton talks to the institute's director about the theft of Rebekka's work, he finds out that Jarek and Rebakka were research partners and that the easter egg discovery was a joint effort. From there on, Burton starts getting paranoid. He thinks he's being set up or used for some sinister purposes. He keeps calling his wife but now she won't talk to him. He keeps having visions of her pregnancy and the birth of the baby. While handling the mouse, it ended up biting him. He eventually ends up confronting everyone but his fate is sealed.

Errors of the Human Body is a fantastic title for a movie. And the movie starts out strong giving you high hopes. But things don't at all turn out the way you hope. And that is unfortunate. The movie really takes us in a direction we don't want to go. One problem is the Burton character. He's too much of a wreck to root for. You sympathize with a him a bit, but not enough. So he makes a terrible lead character. Then there the Jarek character who's downright charicaturesque in his creepiness.

The story is solid, if not excellent. And I'm giving this movie high marks for the science and the ideas. The problem is the execution. I did like the attention to detail, the little things, but overall a near fatal flaw of the movie is the European pace reduced almost to slow-motion. The movie isn't long but it feels like it's a 3 hour movie.

While filmed in Dresden, a photogenic city, we get to see nothing of it. And as usual for something filmed in Germany, it's during winter. Are German actors banned by law from working when the sun shines? By their movie and TV productions, you would think that Germany suffers from an eternal winter.

I'm rating this movie a bit higher than it deserves, for the main reason that it doesn't treat the audience like morons but gives it a lot to think about, and it does so until the very end.

5.1 of 10. The first 2/3 of this film are technically magnificent, then it seems to acquire the same tumor/virus this modern industrial sci-fi film centers upon.

There are defects early on that hint at the writer/director failing to understand the subject and not knowing where he's going. Characters have flaws, defects, and strengths that simply don't fit. The acting, setting, filming, and atmosphere, however, make up for it. The story, minus the little defects, is also well told and creates immersion and suspense. Then, maybe in some attempt to become more of an action/suspense film, it becomes nearly a constant cliché and nonsensical for the last third.

The filmmaker has talent as a director, but really needs help as a writer after the initial idea and plot development.

Definitely a far underrated movie. Probably disappointed horror fans expecting a straight genre movie are giving bad votes. It takes a while to establish it's world, but then it all contributes to a smart and involving thriller-drama. The way the main character's destiny and realistic experimental genetics are connected is not only fully believable and moving, but develops an intriguing and threatening dimension. Aesthetically and technically the film is surprisingly convincing, camera-work, pacing and music is remarkable. Michael Eklund's lead performance is outstanding. I can recommend that one.