To truly appreciate this movie one needs to forget about the constraints put on it by the low budget. The visuals can be a little tough to handle sometimes, but they are more than made up for by the innovative story, editing, and soundtrack.
It seems that people want to degrade the movie for its low production value, but it is not a stretch when I say this movie reminds me a lot of early Cronenberg: enigmatic scientist makes a medical discovery which may or may not be effective and when it is tried on volunteer subjects (who soon become tortured patients) the outcomes are not what had been predicted. And all of done on a shoestring budget with laughable special effects (the parasites which resemble turds in SHIVERS).
There is too much good writing to call this movie trash and while the acting can seem forced in spots, some seems so natural that it is impossible not to feel the emotion of the characters. For example, the tears of Ed (James Cable) in the latter part of the film would be shared by anyone who spent a life afraid of interpersonal communication only to make friends with the same "test subjects" he was supposed to be monitoring. Ed remains the creep -the Igor figure of the film- for most of the plot, but the film ends with him as the character with whom we most identify.
The plot is slow to develop, but for good reason. This is not a sci-fi/horror film, this is straight science-fiction. The depth of relationships matters much more than the gore. All of these people -even the government agents- are pawns for more powerful agencies. It is meant to be cerebral. In the end Ed is able to break free from the system and begin to see the constraints of the structure he had believed in for so long.
The editing can be called into question, but with a larger budget it would not even be an issue. The soundtrack is seamless and adds the right amount of intensity and anxiousness to the film.
The nascent elements are there for some good, novel film-making. I look forward to future SILOmedia productions.
-El Profesor
It seems that people want to degrade the movie for its low production value, but it is not a stretch when I say this movie reminds me a lot of early Cronenberg: enigmatic scientist makes a medical discovery which may or may not be effective and when it is tried on volunteer subjects (who soon become tortured patients) the outcomes are not what had been predicted. And all of done on a shoestring budget with laughable special effects (the parasites which resemble turds in SHIVERS).
There is too much good writing to call this movie trash and while the acting can seem forced in spots, some seems so natural that it is impossible not to feel the emotion of the characters. For example, the tears of Ed (James Cable) in the latter part of the film would be shared by anyone who spent a life afraid of interpersonal communication only to make friends with the same "test subjects" he was supposed to be monitoring. Ed remains the creep -the Igor figure of the film- for most of the plot, but the film ends with him as the character with whom we most identify.
The plot is slow to develop, but for good reason. This is not a sci-fi/horror film, this is straight science-fiction. The depth of relationships matters much more than the gore. All of these people -even the government agents- are pawns for more powerful agencies. It is meant to be cerebral. In the end Ed is able to break free from the system and begin to see the constraints of the structure he had believed in for so long.
The editing can be called into question, but with a larger budget it would not even be an issue. The soundtrack is seamless and adds the right amount of intensity and anxiousness to the film.
The nascent elements are there for some good, novel film-making. I look forward to future SILOmedia productions.
-El Profesor