Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Stevecorp
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
jlthornb51
Well done horror film that blows the lid off Big Pharmaceutical as well. Travis Van Winkle gives a superb performance as a college student participating in an allergy study, placing himself in the hands of sinister representatives of an evil drug company. The study is one of the most diabolical ever conceived in cinema and reflects major truths regarding the industry. Trish Helfer is stunning and does some of her best work in years as the attracts Van Winkle's character to the program with completely evil intent. The tension builds quickly and the horrors which ensue are almost too much to comprehend in their terror. Overall, a fine film that is not without its flaws but which is much more than just a horror movie. What this production has to say about society's dominance by pharmaceutical fascists is profoundly true and needs to be exposed.
mirakoff
Bloodwork was entertaining and did justice for its genre. Aside from a slow opening, the film had a good pace the whole way through. The writer took a new spin on "zombies", focusing on the psychological evolution from man to beast. (Spoiler) Loved the set up for when Dr. Wilcox couldn't get through the chest plate of one of the patients. Thought this was a fantastic story element that you won't usually get in the typical zombie film. Overall, the film had a nice directorial style that was creative, but subtle enough to not take the viewer out of the picture. Acting was not the greatest, Van Winkle was good, Johnny Depp 2 was a little too Johnny Depp. Aaron, the assistant, was had one of the better performances, and was a good sense of comedic relief. Definitely worth the view.
Coventry
Two incredibly stereotypical college buddies (one carefree party-animal and one responsible party-pooper) seek a method to earn fast & easy cash and stumble upon an ad for pharmaceutical guinea pigs. After carefully verifying that nobody will put any tubes up their rectums (because, apparently, that's the only unacceptable condition), they sign up for a two weeks stay at a medical facility and agree with the terms that they cannot have any contact with the outside world and swallow whatever medication Dr. Wilcox and her team prescribes them. Several indicators prove that the testing of Ravenix' new drug isn't kosher, like the decaying state of the hospital facility and the lack of medical staff involved, but the new drug appears to show off positive results immediately. The recovery ratio in case of illnesses and the healing processes in case of physical wounds increase at phenomenal speed and, after a few days, it even occurs that cutting wounds heal instantly. But, like usually the issue with new medicines, the side effects and shortcomings are quite extreme. Most notable is the fact that the human lab rabbits become completely inadvertent to all kind of emotions. And, of course, what to do in case of urgent surgery when the body can't be incised? I watched "Bloodwork" at the annual Brussels Festival of Fantastic Films, where it got promoted as a state-of-the-art and innovative thriller. This isn't quite correct, unfortunately, as far too often the film comes across as derivative and mundane, but it's nonetheless a very entertaining thriller with a handful of original aspects and occasional flashes of sheer suspense. Particularly the unfolding of the drug's side effects is adequately demonstrated. We initially witness how the group indifferently reacts to a rotting animal's carcass in the cafeteria and you actually wonder why they're not repulsed. A little while later, there's even a couple having sex in a cockroach-infested room and remain unbothered. Regretfully however, after a fairly solid and plausible middle-section, "Bloodwork" rapidly descends into a bad spiral of dull clichés and routines. Obviously the project supervisor will stop at nothing to continue the experiments and naturally the tests are all part of a secret government scheme led by one political big shot. None other than Eric Roberts – civilized übervillain #1 – makes a less than 2 minute cameo appearance for this part and presumably also received the largest paycheck. But still, if you manage to switch off your brain functions and look passed all these hopelessly annoying defaults, you'll find a worthwhile thriller perfectly suitable for a lazy Saturday evening in a comfortable couch. As said, the film contains a few admirable ideas and highlight sequences, the motivated acting performances from the ensemble cast are much better than the routine script deserves and supportive actress Mircea Monroe demonstrates that she has beautiful breasts.
equazcion
A bunch of people sign on for a clinical drug trial at a sealed facility. The test has some strange rules, and still stranger things happen as the test subjects begin to learn what the drug does.The story relies fundamentally on what anyone who knows anything about anthropology will tell you is some pretty pretentious (ie. flawed) science, but this is only in your face for a short monologue towards the middle of the film.I felt inclined to forgive that and other sub-par dramatic moments in favor of the quality sets, props, and cinematography, along with a multitude of nicely executed action/horror scenes sporting convincing gore and other effects that clearly were the focus of this endeavor (save for one decapitation scene that was very difficult to take seriously).Eric Roberts just provides a prop cameo. Also note the IMDb cast list (as of this review) is missing some entries, notably Tamara Feldman.