Two incredibly stereotypical college buddies (one carefree party-animal and one responsible party-pooper) seek a method to earn fast & easy cash and stumble upon an ad for pharmaceutical guinea pigs. After carefully verifying that nobody will put any tubes up their rectums (because, apparently, that's the only unacceptable condition), they sign up for a two weeks stay at a medical facility and agree with the terms that they cannot have any contact with the outside world and swallow whatever medication Dr. Wilcox and her team prescribes them. Several indicators prove that the testing of Ravenix' new drug isn't kosher, like the decaying state of the hospital facility and the lack of medical staff involved, but the new drug appears to show off positive results immediately. The recovery ratio in case of illnesses and the healing processes in case of physical wounds increase at phenomenal speed and, after a few days, it even occurs that cutting wounds heal instantly. But, like usually the issue with new medicines, the side effects and shortcomings are quite extreme. Most notable is the fact that the human lab rabbits become completely inadvertent to all kind of emotions. And, of course, what to do in case of urgent surgery when the body can't be incised? I watched "Bloodwork" at the annual Brussels Festival of Fantastic Films, where it got promoted as a state-of-the-art and innovative thriller. This isn't quite correct, unfortunately, as far too often the film comes across as derivative and mundane, but it's nonetheless a very entertaining thriller with a handful of original aspects and occasional flashes of sheer suspense. Particularly the unfolding of the drug's side effects is adequately demonstrated. We initially witness how the group indifferently reacts to a rotting animal's carcass in the cafeteria and you actually wonder why they're not repulsed. A little while later, there's even a couple having sex in a cockroach-infested room and remain unbothered. Regretfully however, after a fairly solid and plausible middle-section, "Bloodwork" rapidly descends into a bad spiral of dull clichés and routines. Obviously the project supervisor will stop at nothing to continue the experiments and naturally the tests are all part of a secret government scheme led by one political big shot. None other than Eric Roberts – civilized übervillain #1 – makes a less than 2 minute cameo appearance for this part and presumably also received the largest paycheck. But still, if you manage to switch off your brain functions and look passed all these hopelessly annoying defaults, you'll find a worthwhile thriller perfectly suitable for a lazy Saturday evening in a comfortable couch. As said, the film contains a few admirable ideas and highlight sequences, the motivated acting performances from the ensemble cast are much better than the routine script deserves and supportive actress Mircea Monroe demonstrates that she has beautiful breasts.
