The Facility (2012)

In 2012 Ian Clark directed a ''hospital''-horror, apparently on a micro-budget. Currently rocking a 4,8 rate at IMDB this movie might not seem a good option if you want to be frightened and scared. MIGHT is key here, because unexpectedly The Facility turned out to be fucking great!

Every year 1200 medical experiments on people are held in the UK alone. Most experiments are crucial in fighting viruses. These experiment rarely get out of hand. In 2010 a new kind of medicine, named PRO-9, needed testing on humans. 8 volunteers now have to fight for their lives as the experiment goes horribly wrong.

The Facility has a slow start but due to the almost documentary style of filming this doesn't bother you a bit. After about 20 minutes, that go by really fast, you realise that all you have seen so far is 8 people being injected with the PRO-9 one by one. Nothing special you'd think but somehow the movie manages to keep you interested while pretty much nothing is happening.

A few hours after the injections the shit hits the fan... Multiple test subjects have strange after effects on taking the PRO-9. This eventually leeds to them going somewhat rabid and chasing every live human being with one goal only... Kill.... The tension at times is amazing. Ian Clark makes full use of the brilliant setting in a deserted hospital. The dark, empty halls of the building definitely add to the atmosphere. Don't expect a gore fest, although some make-up effects do look really impressive. Clark mainly focusses on pure tension and terror and that's why this film is so amazing. 

A lot of the tension gets created by sound. Screaming people or other strange sounds on the hallways make for some great, frightening terror while you don't even get to see much. The Facility also features some very nice ''jumpy'' momentes where you literally jump up out of your seat. Another thing that's great about this film are the realistic characters that are featured in this movie. You really get the feeling that you are watching actual people who are actually experiencing this terrible situation. This is all due to the great acting by the somewhat unknown cast. Steve Evets especially does a great job portraying Morty (the beardy guy at the upper right), a character that is experienced in human medicine experiments as he participate multiple times as ''guinea pig'', which is actually one of the alternate titles of the film. 

The Facility definitely is an interesting one. The tension and atmosphere are absolutely great. It's a terribly underrated movie that is kinda going under the radar of a lot of horror movie fans that are looking for a frightening night, which is a shame. Definitely go check it out! 

Fun Fact

The movie claims to be based on actual events.

Non-Horror Exploitation: Class of 1984 (1982)

In 1982 director Mark L. Lester, who is probably most known as the director of 1985 action film Commando, created a dark, gritty and stone cold action/thriller about a new teacher trying to fit in at a school that is being runned by violent drug dealers. 

Andrew is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is like nothing he has ever seen before. The students have to go through a metal detector when they go through the front door and everything is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.

Obviously now in 2014 the concept isn't new anymore. Popular films like The Principal (1987), The Substitute (1996) and Dangerous Minds (1995) basically had the same story to tell, but Class of 1984 was probably one of the first films with the concept and also feels quite unique comparing to other films in this sub-genre. 

I'll be the first to admit that the beginning is somewhat lame. It could have easily come out of some Troma film. The music that is playing during the intro is incredibly corny and way to melodramatic. Also main character Andrew seems a huge douche and the punkers who rule the school act to over the top to take them serious in any way. 

Luckily about 20 minutes in the character of the film changes as it becomes grimmer by the second and even teacher Andrew starts acting like a bad-ass. ''Main Villain'' Peter Stegman is also portrayed really well Timothy Van Patten. With his aggressive attitude he gives the film a lot of bite. The gang gets more violent which leads to more drastic measures by teacher Andrew Norris. Multiple times these actions are pretty brutal and bloody as well. 
The film does well to create a desperate vibe and you really do get the feeling that there is no other solution than to kill all the young, but deadly, kids. 

 Class of 1984 also gets praised a lot for its realism. I don't entirely agree on that actually. We all know that it can be extremely hard to be a teacher in certain areas but I doubt it gets as bad as it does in this film. Not that that is a bad thing though. I didn't hope to see a whole lot of realism and I didn't expect  it. Class of 1984 is exactly what the plot and poster make you think it is.... A very cool 80's revenge flick on a highschool where drugdealers make the rules. 

 Fun Fact

Look for a very young, and somewhat chubby Michael J. Fox in the role of Arthur.

 Much of the graffiti the art director put on the walls of the school for filming was extremely difficult to remove. It caused some trouble when the actual students of the high school used in the film returned to see all of the profanity left on the walls. Ultimately it was all removed though.