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Subject TwoReview by Patrick Z McGavin in Berlin 20 February 2006, Screen DailyDir/scr Philip Chidel. US. 2006. 92mins. |
| Philip Chidel's second feature Subject Two
begins with a taut, suggestive title sequence of two men battling for possession
of a gun; a smart, sharp opening that provides a chilling introduction to
the highly assured and impressively staged low-budget horror film that follows.
It conforms enough to the demands of the form, allowing enough blood, gore and action to thrill the youth crowd. But Chidel is also after something more elusive and difficult to track, a psychological suggestion of divine right and absolute power. It's a reconsideration of the Frankenstein myth, given a new, relevant idiom about technology and science in conflict with mortality. "You're an assistant, not God," a character says late in the film. Just as impressively Chidel draws on the spectacular Colorado mountain scenery where the film unfolds, drawing on the clean, sinister white-on-white compositions to heighten the quotient of dread and unease. The movie suggests Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining, not only in the claustrophobic, snow-capped landscapes, but also in lead actor Dean Stapleton's resemblance to a younger Jack Nicholson. Premiering in the Midnight section at Sundance, Subject Two is a natural title for the smart, discerning late-night crowd. It clearly will not perform at the Saw or Hostel level, but it's a shrewd, stylish programmer that should find an appreciative, probably cult, following. The movie's top prospects are in ancillary markets, particularly the lucrative field of DVD and pay cable. Internationally, the commercial possibilities are more restricted. But while Far From Bismarck, the first feature from San Francisco-based Chidel, went largely unseen, he'll experience no such problems with Subject Two. A young medical student whose migrained induced seizures pummel his promising career, Adam (Oliver) is summoned by a mysterious benefactor, Dr Franklin Vick (Stapleton) to meet him at his isolated medical research facility. A specialist in cryonics, Vick is conducting highly experimental research in resurrection, developing a serum that he says enables him to revive the dead. Adam is drafted into his "experimentî: Vick strangles him in the first of a series of medically sanctioned killings, then drains him of his blood and shoots him. Dubbed Subject Two, after failed experiments with his predecessor, Adam is suddenly transformed and his seizures and migraines disappear. "You have no idea what's going on inside me right now," he tells Vick. But the process remains unstable, and Adam is soon convulsed with horrifyingly painful side effects and begs Vick to end his life. The narrative conflicts plays out their struggle for equilibrium, Vick needing Adam to understand the full medical range of possibilities with his reanimation, and Adam trying to fully realise the psychological and physical consequences of his condition. Shut off from the outside world, Adam is denied the earthly pleasure of a beautiful young woman (Mace) he befriended, and the tension subtly increases between scientist and subject. A good, thoughtful man, Adam is divided between trying to cope with the contradictory impulses his feels, continuously suspended as he is between life and death. Director and writer Chidel makes a late appearance as an actor, and finds a highly appealing, revealing way to resolve the essential conflict between the two men. The late plot revelations also deepen the sense of mystery, echoing the mysterious opening and powerfully suggesting that Adam is only capable of living by returning to civilisation. Chidel's directing is taut and well underplayed and the tempo is fast and unnerving. The director smartly plays off physical space in expressive, inventive ways, heightening the confrontation in the cramped interiors and using the scale and depth of the exterior landscapes to project a different form of unsettledness, even encroaching madness. Christian Oliver's German-accented English creates a further sense of imbalance and strangeness. |