Ian Clark (4)

Writer / director Ian Clark delivers a decent little film that at times seems to be on the cusp of becoming rather good. Clark's set-up is simple: seven individuals arrive at a remote clinic to take part in a drug test for which they will be paid £2,000. They're injected with an experimental drug called Pro-9 and before long a number of the participants are having an "adverse" reaction and going kill crazy. Through a number of contrivances a siege develops with the uninfected desperately show more trying to avoid the infected. "The Facility" is an obvious low budget effort, but Clark still manages to develop some nice situations and, at times, a decent claustrophobic atmosphere. He uses the corridors of the facility and deep shadows really well and keeps the drug-infected just enough out of sight and enough out of focus to deliver a well-controlled feeling of fear and uncertainty. There are a number of serious flaws in the script with the characters making incomprehensible decisions at times. Similarly, the test subject guinea pigs make for a slightly cliched mix of typical personality types who have a tendency towards silliness and verbosity. Unfortunately the acting on offer ranges from the very good to verging on the incompetent - there are a number of mannerisms that quickly become very annoying. Despite these flaws "The Facility" has a lot going for it and manages to transcend it micro-budget, making for a decent debut feature from Ian Clark. show less