Greg McLean's The Belko Experiment

With The Belko Experiment I was disappointed because they missed out on a potential great flick.

Directed by:

• Greg McLean

Written by:

• James Gunn

Cast:

• John Gallagher Jr. as Mike Milch
• Tony Goldwyn as Barry Norris
• Adria Arjona as Leandra Florez
• John C. McGinley as Wendell Dukes
• Michael Rooker as Bud Melks

Length:

• approx.89 min

Genre:

• Horror
• Thriller

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I am a massive fan of Horror movies that have social research/ human behaviour as a subject, either based on true event like The Stanford Prison Experiment (very interesting and also worth checking out the true story behind it) or something fictional (or is it?) like Would You Rather - am I the only one that think it’s underrated? Point is, the reason I find these kind of films so appealing is because for me they are pretty unnerving since I like to put myself in the characters shoes and think ​what I would do if I was in that situation. In case you want to know, most of the time I would just crawl up in the corner and die.

Directed by Greg McLean, that we know for bringing to this world the awesome Wolf Creek, more recently the not so awesome The Darkness and then back to awesomeness with the Wolf Creek TV series. James Gunn wrote the script, and you might not be aware of the extent of the many talents this man has. He is a screenwriter (Tromeo and Juliet, Dawn of The Dead [2004]) director (Super,  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1. and Vol. 2), producer (Scooby-Doo, Avengers: Infinity War), novelist (The Toy Collector) actor (in half of his movies), and musician (was lead vocalist in the alt rock/ gothic rock The Icons).  Where the fuck did he find the time to marry Jenna Fischer (AKA Pam Beesly from The Office US)?

Started from Troma now we're here / Started from Troma now (most of) the whole team fucking here

Like Casual Friday - Get it?

​The Belko Experiment is set in a building somewhere in the remote Colombian sticks, even though a Wall Street location would have been equally believable to me. What starts out as a usual day at the office with its fake friendships, real love affairs and the security guard being useless, the workers soon find themselves barricaded inside with no chance of escaping and forced into a survival game where the rules are pretty straight forward: you have to kill your colleagues to make it out of there alive.

Yes, it all comes crashing down out of the blue like that – I personally would love if that happened to me right now, maybe because it’s Monday while I’m writing this or maybe just because I hate my job! Whatever the reason, the idea of running around corridors slaughtering everything that moves puts a smile on my face. Only problem is I don’t think in this premises there’s any actual weapons I could do some serious damage with… I guess I can still pop someone’s eyes out with a spork.

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Calm down, calm down, this is still better than those team bonding activities.

With The Belko Experiment I was disappointed because they missed out on a potential great flick.
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We have the usual initial dilemma: should they play the game or refuse to because "c’mon, it’s gotta be a prank!" The bad and good people coalition, the funny, the crazy, the character you hope will make it and the one that you want to die. Nothing new there.
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"This movie is saturated with many beloved actors and let’s not forget the director and writer! It saddens me to say that the whole concept fell a bit flat."

Not even how the actual game is set up – do not expect Saw kinda twisted. The deaths are ok, they're almost all unexpected, but are carried out in not very inventive ways. This movie is saturated with many beloved actors and let’s not forget the director and writer! It saddens me to say that the whole concept fell a bit flat.
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Michael Rooker and David Dastmalchian.

Also the social commentary isn’t even there, there was no internal dilemma in my head, it didn’t shake me to the core like these movies usually do. If I get locked up at my work right now, every man for himself, bitches!
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6/10

Written by Mags.

​​Ronon's Reviews Merch! Only at REDBUBBLE! Click the photo to check the shop.

Not a great trailer, gives pretty much everything away.

Related Reviews:

​If you are looking for a real life place to get spooked out, I think The Museum Of Death in Hollywood CA is where you should go. Check out what you can expect here.

Miss Violence, like The Belko Experiment, is a film that you need to enter in with a open mind, 

Not the movie, but the video game. And how the fuck can you screw up Mad Max? The potential was high, the product was lacking.