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The Control Group
USA 2014
produced by Terrence Hurd (executive), Debra Hurd (executive) for Point and Shoot Productions
directed by Peter Hurd
starring Brad Dourif, Ross Destiche, Jenna Enemy, Justen Jones, Emily Soto, Shane Philip, Monique Candelaria, Jerry G. Angelo, Kodi Saint Angelo, Larry Laverty, Meisha Johnson, Taso N. Stavrakis, Luce Rains, Ian Pickett, Denise Mauer
story by Peter Hurd, Logan Gion, screenplay by Logan Gion, music by Anthony Bannach, visual effects by Jon Julsrud, William J. Cox
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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Jack (Ross Destiche) is a guy who hasn't got many friends by nature,
and the fact that he's of late deeply depressed because of the death of
his sister hasn't made life for him any easier, especially at his new
college, where he has problems connecting to others - and suddenly he
finds himself locked in a seemingly abandoned asylum with his pushover
roommate Corey (Shane Philip) and Corey's childhood friends, Mr
know-it-all Grant (Justen Jones), Grant's bitchy and egocentric on-and-off
girlfriend Vanessa (Jenna Enemy), and somewhat ditzy "spiritual"
Jaime (Kodi Saint Angelo). Now this throws Jack off already, especially
since none of them really know how they got there and all start seeing
things - which might mean one of two things, either the place is haunted
or they were drugged and abducted. Trying to find their way out, our
heroes can't fail to notice the place's riddled with death traps and a
group of hooded villains wearing crow-like plague doctor masks ... and
soon, Grant dies, too, but later returns from the dead. But a young girl,
Anne (Emily Soto) appears to Jack, and she might have an idea what's going
on - but at the same time might be a ghost or a figment of Jack's
imagination. So what's really going on is this: Jack and company are
experiment subjects of a shady gouvernment organisation led by Dr. Broward
(Brad Dourif) testing a new drug - but the experiment gets out of hand
because everybody in Broward's team seems to have their own agendas, and
nobody seems to even grasp the full meaning of what's going on once the
experiment does go out of control when Grant comes back to life, and
suddenly it's one party versus the other, but nobody knows who's on whose
side, but what's for sure is everything has to do with a machine that
opens a door to the beyond - and that's definitely not a good idea ... Now
I have to admit, the plot of The Control Group is a tad on the
confusing side to say the least, and for the most part, the audience is
left in the blue regarding the on-screen goings-on as the cast of
characters - but somehow that doesn't matter all that much, because this
is a really tense film that is good at keeping the audience guessing and
at the edge of their seats at the same time and that features many
well-placed and fittingly grotesque shocks while being strong on
atmosphere - and the location helps loads here. And of course, a strong
cast doesn't hurt one bit either to make this very cool genre
entertainment!
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