Bloodwork (2011)

Directed by: Eric Wostenberg | 96 minutes | horror, thriller | Actors: Travis Van Winkle, Tricia Helfer, Stephen Bogaert, John Bregar, Albert Chung, Anna Ferguson, Yanna McIntosh, Mircea Monroe, Joe Pingue, James Purcell, Eric Roberts, Vas Saranga, Rik Young

It sounds so tempting and almost seems too good to be true. Quickly earn about $3000 and all you have to do is sit in a clinic for two weeks to have a series of harmless tests performed on a new drug in development. No, it is not strange that the two students Greg (Travis van Winkle) and Rob (John Bregar) see this as a great opportunity to earn some extra money so that they can visit Europe in the summer. They could never have suspected that the tests that are administered in the clinic are actually life-threatening experiments that push the limits of what is permissible. Mainly responsible for these experiments is the attractive doctor Wilcox (Tricia Helfer) and she seems to be more concerned with the success of the experiment than with the well-being of the subjects.

It shouldn’t be a secret that the experiments get completely out of hand, making a film about experiments that run smoothly isn’t particularly interesting. Yet despite this fairly predictable set-up, ‘Bloodwork’ has become a very nice thriller/horror film. So the atmosphere is quite nicely affected. The clinic is very austere, located in a nice deserted area and the people who stay there all behave strangely; all in all a fine setting that meets all the requirements of the genre. There is nothing wrong with the acting either. Although the majority of the actors are mainly known from TV series and do not have a lot of actual film experience, they all hold their own well. Don’t expect great deeds or groundbreaking performances from the cast, but all things considered, it’s good enough to give ‘Bloodwork’ credibility.

The final twists and turns of the story are also nice. As mentioned, the experiments, which aim to improve the immune system of the human body, are becoming more and more extreme and the ‘patients’ react less and less to everything they are given, so that they eventually become like drug-addicted zombies no longer without their medicines can. As a result, one by one, the patients start spinning, become more and more aggressive, and the pressure on Wilcox to stop the experiment is mounting. The only one who realizes what is actually going on is Greg and he appears insensitive to the side effects of the experiments. Where the rest goes crazy, he is the only one who is still able to think soberly.

As the story progresses, ‘Bloodwork’ starts to turn more and more from a thriller into a hack & slash movie and that’s not a bad choice. The story is too sparse for a good thriller and it has too little depth and interesting plot twists. As a slasher, however, it is quite manageable. Those who are afraid of needles and have a sensitive stomach should think twice before watching the film because it is not all that fresh what ‘Bloodwork’ offers you. In particular, a number of food scenes with countless maggots and other vermin happily crawling through the meat are not very attractive for everyone, but fortunately it never gets extremely nasty. Starting director Eric Wostenberg knows how to achieve a very nice result with ‘Bloodwork’ with a limited budget.