At the beginning of a work day, the American Belko company in South America is mysteriously sealed off and its employees are ordered to kill each other or be killed themselves. This starts an escalation of violence, where we discover the true nature of each and every Belko employee.
Why we’re looking forward to this: The Belko Experiment has us all fired up for several reasons. The first is that it’s from the pen of the usually reliable James Gunn whose credits include Zack Snyder’s excellent 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, indie horror/comedy Slither and a mildly successful film that you may have heard of called Guardians of the Galaxy. Next up is that it’s being directed by Greg McLean who helmed both Wolf Creek movies and has shown that he has a flair for horror.
Then there’s the cast, headed up by two of our favourite actors in the form of John C McGinley (of Scrubs fame) and the incomparable Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Walking Dead), and ably supported by John Gallagher Jr (Short Term 12), Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station), Tony Goldwyn (Scandal), David Dastmalchian (The Dark Knight), Gail Bean (Unexpected) and Valentine Miele (Tromeo & Juliet).
The premise of The Belko Experiment is an interesting one, sounding like a cross between The Purge and Battle Royale, and set inside a single location, albeit a potentially large one, it should give the film a deliciously claustrophobic feel if handled right, and with the talent on board there’s no reason to suspect that it won’t be.
Gunn himself asserts The Belko Experiment is one of the “most intense and uncompromising” scripts that he’s ever written, so we could be in for a delightfully bumpy ride with this one.
The Belko Experiment is in production now for release next year.
RICHARD COSGROVE
