Killing Room, The (2009) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Horror | Thriller

In this highly charged, psychological thrill ride four strangers are recruited as volunteers in a scientific research study. But they soon find that they are pawns in a classified government program to determine the breaking point of the human mind. As the experiments are conducted with each unwilling participant, the sterile white room becomes a horrible nightmare where the endgame is survival itself.

User Comment: equazcion (equazcion@gmail.com) from NYC, 31 July 2009 • Let me start by saying that a lot of what you're about to read may seem like spoilers, but all of the following plot information is given within the first 10 minutes of the movie.

In this movie, the CIA's secret "MK-Ultra" mind-control experiments of the '70s (which really did occur) seem to still be in operation. Four civilians answer a classified ad seeking volunteers for medical testing, only to be locked in a room together and subjected to psychological and some physical torture, plus a little death. This is not "torture porn" though, and aside from a couple of run-of-the-mill gunshots, it actually doesn't involve much graphic violence at all.

While there have been many "locked in a room together for a mysterious and violent experiment" movies, this one is different in that it's told primarily from the perspective of an observer: a doctor who is interviewing for a position at the organization. She has no idea what she's about to observe when she arrives, so she joins the audience in horror as the various aspects of the experiment are revealed.

This movie has a lot of problems. The writing, mainly the dialog, seemed a bit lackluster, but the competent acting compensated somewhat for that. I also found the use of the shaky camera a little annoying, as was the use of a few little fake-out sequences meant to make the audience go, "Oh, she was only imagining that." You know the kind.

Also, the employees operating the experiment would communicate via crackly radio, using lots of military mumbo-jumbo ("echo-2 commence stimulus foxtrot, wilco"), which seemed almost laughably inappropriate, and disproportionate to coordinating closed-room experiments. It sounded like they were an airport tower trying to land planes in a blizzard. It struck me as overly melodramatic, trying too hard to make it sound like a military operation.

But for all its problems, this movie will surprise you in the end with its relevance. I'm still feeling it sink in. The ending made this movie entirely worth watching (if not good), which I'm glad I did. There isn't much I can say about it without spoiling it, so I'll just say that it's often our artists -- our filmmakers, our writers -- who tell us where we might be headed. Sorry if that sounds cryptic. You'll have to watch the movie. :)

Summary: Worth watching for the ending.

[CSW] -1- Although subtitles would have helped me get a little deeper into the personalities of the participants in this plot, it wouldn't have saved it. Even thought the plot wasn't explained until the end of the film it was there that the glairing plot hole became obvious. How could they know in advance that some of the other participants weren't candidates? The supposed timing of the beginning of the program didn't coincide with a need for it, unless we were the beginning. It is one of the few films that kept me guessing up till the end but then ended up smelling like something rotten.
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box

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