Misleadingly drawn in by what seemed to be an interesting 10min intro, I was taken on a downhill ride into moronsville. Had I realised that second rate shock/horror Aussie director Greg McLean was involved I may have avoided this nasty mess. His over-the-top obsession with all things repulsive sinks any mistaken notions that something intelligent may come out of this foolish effort. Writer/producer James Gunn appears to have taken ideas from several other works where dumbed-down crowd mentality takes over when life threatening danger is present. His ultra low-brow dialogue and situations are designed to manipulate viewers into a cheap, blood spattered gore fest - from this point on, wall to wall ugly movie making is then guaranteed by this low grade director. This time, you can trust the NY Times and the Verve reviewers - they got it absolutely right. I also take my hat off to IMDb poster; Popcorninhell who beckons audiences to: "Rise above people, rise above". Everyone involved with products like these should be sued for Terrorist Related Activities. Anyone, other than easily pleased blood-nuts should stay away from this sub-par no-brainer for their heads sake.

'The Belko Experiment (2017)' has an interesting central premise that unfortunately doesn't stand up to much scrutiny and isn't helped by an unambiguous ending that simultaneously reveals too much without explaining anything. The core concept, mostly in terms of the villains' motivations and the validity of their experiment, falls flat when you think about it for more than a few seconds, but it could be trying to 'satirise' the way they justify their actions as opposed to presenting their justification as legitimise. Still, the wider 'satire' isn't quite as successful as it perhaps should have been, or was intended. Some silly moments punch through the generally realistic tone and the tangible violence - which is helped by wonderfully splattery and gruesome practical effects - offers plenty of brutal enjoyment, though. It's just that the story and characters are somewhat lacking. 6/10

John Gallagher, Jr. ('The Newsroom', "10 Cloverfield Lane") stars in this attempted satire / bloodbath, referred to in one quote as "Office Space" meets "Battle Royale". He plays Mike Milch, just one of 80 employees working in an American corporate office in Bogota, Colombia. (Just what it it that this company actually does, nobody knows.) One day, the regular security detail is gone, and a disembodied voice (Gregg Henry) informs the people in this heavily isolated building that they have now been placed in a genuine do or die situation. The building is sealed off, and now these office drones are ordered to either start killing each other, or get the "tag" implanted in each persons' head to be detonated.This is nothing we haven't seen before, to be honest. Written and co-produced by James Gunn ("Slither", "Guardians of the Galaxy"), who was originally set to direct, it's yet another examination of human behaviour. More to the point, it's the portrayal of human beings under extreme stress. Who has what it takes to survive? Who's willing to murder other people non-stop in order to ensure their own survival? As Gunns' story plays out, some people naturally consider their lives more important, and panic is pretty much the order of the day. Mike is one of the few individuals who tries to keep a level head.Directed by Greg McLean of "Wolf Creek" and "Rogue" fame, "The Belko Experiment" may be patently unpleasant and ridiculous, but it's never, ever boring. One problem is that with so few characters for whom one can actually root, the viewer is likely to end up wanting to see EVERYBODY meet a glorious, hideous demise. But who, knows, that may have been the point. The movie is certainly good for some non-think, over the top, visceral mayhem with tons of digital splatter. It wastes little time, beginning the story proper with just a bare few introductions to characters.Say what you will about the characters involved: this viewer had to develop a grudging respect for the head honcho played by Tony Goldwyn ("Ghost"), who adopts an utterly ruthless attitude and racks up an impressive kill count.Other familiar faces include the always reliable John C. McGinley ('Stan Against Evil') and Michael Rooker (the latter a Gunn regular, as is Henry), as well as Rusty Schwimmer ("Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday") and Abraham Benrubi ('E.R.').Punctuated by some amusing black humour, "The Belko Experiment" managed to keep this viewer interested despite the familiar scenario.Six out of 10.

Somewhere outside Bogota, someone built an office block where 80 people work as a kind of international staff agency. Or so they think. Which means they are surprised when impenetrable steel shutters seal the building, and a voice tells them that they must kill two of their number within the next 30 minutes or there will be repercussions. Yeah, like it will stop there, right?Spoiler - the intention was always for only one to survive, and our job as audience is to guess which one it will be - or will there be others?I guessed wrong - no surprise there.This simple - and, it must be admitted, not unfamiliar - scenario is executed (pun not intended) professionally, involving sympathetic people, unsympathetic people, and a large number of completely anonymous people who are there simply to fill out the ranks.The reason for this carnage, when revealed - social experiment to see how people react when put in a situation where they have to kill each other for no reason - make no sense. Why? And if that is the reason, why don't the hidden masters of the game take out the ones who are clearly ready to kill during one of the culls, thus increasing the pressure on the others.The strength of this films is that it sustains interest throughout its running time, but ultimately it is ridiculous nonsense, panderingto those who simply like wholesale slaughter. Writer James Gunn can do - and has done - much better.