The Horror Show
Expiration
by Alastair Orr
Reading the synopsis for Expiration (aka Rancid) you’d think the film would be just like any other “throw a bunch of anonymous people in a building and do awful things to them” movie. Ya know, something along the lines of Saw 2, Cube, or Would You Rather. But Expiration offers something a bit more for four unlucky people who need to make some quick cash.
In this South African horror flick, four volunteers sign up to participate in an experimental drug trial with a company called Gentek. Each volunteer has a different medical condition: one is paralyzed from the waist down, one has asthma, one has a brain tumor, and one struggles with alcoholism. $250,000 will be awarded to each person for participating in the five day experiment.
Our participants sign their waivers and take a sedative, waking up only to find out that it’s nearly two months later and strange things (along the lines of tattoos disappearing and oh, not a big deal, the paraplegic being able to now walk) have occurred. With surveillance cameras galore, the human “lab rats” realize that they might have bitten off more than they can chew with this drug trial. Not only that, but Gentek Corporation’s guards have also realized that something more than simple “medical experimentation” is going on in their secret medical facilities when they discover mutated former test subjects “hunting” them in the building.
For a low budget film, the acting in Expiration was solid, and the gritty surveillance camera feed incorporated into the filming was a nice touch, adding to the overall atmosphere of the film. I will say, there were many a part that dragged, and there was less than necessary character development across the board as well as some minor plot holes that bugged the hell out of me. There were also a few scenes of “over-acting”, but I will say the ending saved the entire film’s plotline. It was a great twist of Science-Fiction thrown into a well-executed gorefest. I only wish that they would have elaborated more on the origins of the project, the “how” and “why” behind it all, and the full story behind the mysterious pregnant woman that showed up halfway through the film.
Yeah….one of those small plot holes I mentioned…
I feel like with a few tweaks to the writing, this story had a whole lot of potential, but it fell just a bit short of being fantastic.
Overall it was worth the watch, Expiration is not a “scary” movie, but it’s a different take on the popular zombie and infection sub-genre. I would recommend it for zombie lovers and people who are into experimental mystery films.
Stevie Kopas, HMS
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