Macabre Musings -- Film/DVD Review: EXPERIMENT (2005)

EXPERIMENT, as with a previous and far more famous film, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999), stands as proof that a tiny-budgeted film can still be quite good, entertaining, and pack a comparatively huge emotional wallop for an audience.

Dan Turner, making his feature film directorial debut, ably and admirably directs EXPERIMENT, a British film production by Magician Picture, Ltd. The film, which was recorded using the then latest in high definition video technology, reportedly was made for the extremely small budget of approximately Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars. To give you an idea as to just how small such a sum is, when contemplating a feature film budget, I produced a theatrical play back fifteen years ago in Chicago, limited to a cast of four and one static set, that had a more expensive budget. Indeed, even the DR. WHO convention that I produced in Chicago to celebrate the then Twentieth Anniversary of the Series' premiere back some twenty-five years ago, was more expensive to produce than this film!

Then again, EXPERIMENT is neither a special effects laden film, nor are there any "name" actors employed, both of which tend to cause a film's budget to expand faster than Cosmologist Alan Guth's postulated Inflationary model of the Big Bang. However, this is not to say that the acting of he two leads, newcomer Georgina French as Anna and John Hopkins as Morgan, are not surprisingly and refreshingly capable and competent. Director Turner surrounds them with a number of similarly competent, indeed well above-average, actors in the supporting roles.

EXPERIMENT is a very dark psychological thriller which arguably harkens back to the Hitchcock era of taunt suspense, plot twists, red herrings, and great atmosphere. The film was shot in 2004 in the city of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. The city and its unique blend of old and new architectures lend a great deal of character and shading to the film, and the cinematography and lighting are both quite well done and add substantially to the film's atmosphere. The film's primary premise is simple, immediately captivating, and elegant. Basically, a young man and a young woman suddenly awake separately in a strange city. They seemingly have suffered some sort of injury or trauma, and have lost their entire memory to the extent that they have difficulty attempting to speak or read. It soon is revealed that these two persons were a happily married young couple in England, with a young daughter, and that all three have been mysteriously kidnapped, their memories thoroughly wiped, and are now the subjects of a sinister scientific mind-control experiment and assassination plot in some large eastern European city. In the current climate of concern over suicide bombers and how to spot them, this movie examines the issue in a timely fashion by postulating the ability of creating the "perfect" assassin - a perfectly ordinary person, one with a normal and checkable background, who can have his or her mind and memory wiped, be controlled via computer, and be trained to act as a secret and undiscoverable killing machine. No one is necessarily who he or she appears to be in this film, and interesting plot twists abound. The movie starts interestingly and a bit sedately, but the pace and the tension soon picks up and continues to increase throughout its ninety-five minute running time until the very end. The film is not perfect; there are a few holes in the plot, and some of the acting is at less than Oscar consideration levels. Yet, the plot moves along quickly and entertainingly enough that these minor shortcomings are easily excused.

EXPERIMENT has been selectively shown at a number of international Film Festivals since its completion, to generally very good reviews, garnering an impressive array of Festival awards and prizes. The DVD has now been released and is available for either purchase or rental. Those looking for either spectacular special effects or tons of blood and gore will want to look elsewhere. However, for those looking for a tense and entertaining thriller, EXPERIMENT easily passes all trials and testing. The film easily outclasses many genre films that cost up to hundreds of times more to produce, and is well worth picking up and viewing.