Subject Two (2006)

How sad is this?

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

One mad scientist's dream, results in one man's downhill journey from death to oblivion as an otherwise dead man, brought to life again and again, slowly becomes tortured with the process and goes insane; his only wish is to die.The rest of the film is spent exploring what it means to be the dead brought back to life and if the human body can survive without being able to feel. The mad scientist and the medical student continue their experiment to see what the eventual outcome will be.The movie shares an interesting premise. It is not uncommon for movies go to into great detail of how humans may spiral out of control with their sanity as they become the victims or willingly as the test subject of an experiment.I cannot say the movie is bad; it seems to be aiming at being a suspense film with slight bits of horror involved. The movie takes a look into the human mind and the philosophy behind trying to make the dead live once again. The movie is far from cheerful and would be quite disturbing to normal television. This movie will certainly fill that niche if you are looking for semi-horror with a good plot behind it.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=5183).

When someone or something dies in a movie, you know, "crosses over" and then "crosses back" we expect there to be something very wrong. We expect there to be something very frightening. We have seen this many times in stories like "Pet Sematary" and George Romero's "Dead Trilogy" to name merely two. Thing always come back nasty and vile and they really want to kill us for some unexplained reason. That unexplained reason, admittedly, adds to the horror, but after so many stories it has become something of a cliché."Subject Two" is a small film that takes on that cliché and instead of presenting us with the horrors of the undead it deals more with the emotions of life and death. What makes it interesting is that it deals with these emotions from both sides - the one who killed and the one who was killed and subsequently revived. To put it bluntly it's taking H.P. Lovecraft's tale of Herbert West the Re-Animator and taking it a step further. The nightmarish tone in that story is also removed and what's left is a delicate and personal tone shared by the only two characters in the story. There is no sensational jump scares or elaborate nightmare sequences just a tranquil look at what it is to lose life.However, the film could have used at least one nightmare sequence or some more elaborate horror imagery just so we could get a taste of what Adam is going through. The "I feel death" explanation suffices, though it is a kind of dull choice of words, but on the other hand, it just might be the only choice of words! Therefore, the film could have done with that nightmare sequence or something visual to accompany it.Overall, though, this is a well made film with a very interesting subject. --- 8/10Rated R for violence and gore. Ages 13+

I rented this film after reading about it in a past issue of Fangoria magazine, If for no other reason besides that it was shot in my home state of Colorado. I was surprised by the level of story and thought provoking material in the film.The story revolves around a curious young med student named Adam who is desperate for a job. He takes up an offer from the peculiar Dr. Vick, who is developing theories on the based-in-fact concept of cryonics. Adam becomes involved in a wonderfully twisted experiment of dead and the undoing of death. It is great to watch as he plunges into madness as Dr. Vick gets more and more sadistic in the killing of our protagonist.This was really a great movie, especially on shot for under $25K. The story was great, with lots of twists and unexpected turns. The acting is extremely stellar for such a low budget production, and the beautiful snow capped Aspen Mountains make a great Setting for the story.I recommend this film to nearly everyone looking for a good story.

Basically, a modern-day "Frankenstein" with a few twists. The man portrayed to us as the 'Doctor' (Vic, Victor in the actual book)is a truly well-cast actor. What makes him so believable, right from the beginning, is the mystery that surrounds him. 'Dr. Vic' seems to draw his creativity from his drunken stupors and fits of isolation, and thus, in his frenzies manages to take from Adam something he's tricked into giving up- his very existence. Not merely by taking his life, but by stealing his soul.In my opinion, the most pivitol scene is where Adam looks 'Dr. Vic' in the eye and tells him that he can't die, that he can't feel anything, that he can only 'feel Death.'. And in a way, Adam is death personified. For he can't live among other people, just like 'The Monster', the 'Deamon', the 'Mongrel', he is referred to as 'Subject Two,' something which he objects to. In a way, Adam uses that to try and keep himself tricked into thinking that he has an identity still.This movie isn't for people who aren't into the Romanticism aspect of literature, for the movie still keeps that feel (minus the eloquence of words), but it's also not for those who are into slasher, gorefests, and look-see horror. The movie plays with your mind, and in an innocent sort of way, represents the duality between man- The want to live forever, and the lack of want to sacrifice that which requires immortality. Though Adam willingly underwent such experiments, he realized that in the end, he gave up something he didn't want to.