The Clinic.
I like foreign films. In fact one of the reasons I initially signed up with NetFlix was to watch foreign movies I couldn't rent at the video store, and that's saying something because Logan, where I lived when I signed up for the service, had a couple places that had great selections of foreign movies. It shouldn't be any surprise then that several of the horror films that I've reviewed and will be reviewing are foreign.
The Clinic is Australian, and aside from the Mad Max series, Romper Stomper and a couple of poorly done thrillers I haven't seen much Australia cinema (I know I'm missing some movies, but I'm not going to take the time to look them up right now.) (Oh and FarScape. Have I mentioned I love FarScape, that's Australian mostly too.) The Clinic is a horror film directed by James Rabbitts and set in what I assume everybody thinks of when they think of Australia, the middle of no where. Well that's not quite right, there's a small town with a motel and a Chinese food restaurant and an abandoned abbattior just a few miles outside of it. I think you can see where this is going.
Let's start at the beginning: The film opens by setting the time period, 1979 "Six Years prior to the advent of DNA testing." This is important as you'll see by the end. Beth (Tabrett Bethel) and her fiance Cameron (Andy Whitfield) are on their way cross country to her parents house for Christmas. It's Christmas eve and it's been a long drive, after nearly being run off the road by a reckless driver they decide to find a motel in the next town to spend the night, finishing the trip the next day. Find the small town of Montgomery, the pull over to find some lodging. The lone hotel in town is run by a greasy pervert (really, what motel isn't?) who finds Beth to be a looker. He charges the couple for and extra person because Beth is pregnant. He's greedy too apparently. The relax by the pool, and start to get frisky when they are interrupted by a serious looking couple who don't speak English. Beth soon falls asleep and dreams a dream we find out she has a lot: A baby on a stone alter with the roman numeral XXVIII, blood pours into the etching and she wakes up. It's dark and the couple soon retire to bed.
After tossing and turning part of the night Cameron get's up to find food. He drives to a local Chinese food restaurant but surprisingly it's not open in the middle of the night. The car is out of gas so he's forced to walk back to the motel where he finds Beth missing without a struggle. He puts a call in to the local police and they are just as backwards and redneck as you'd expect from a film like this. Officer Underwood (Marshall Napier) does not give the impression of competence, but he's not as scary as the sheriff in the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake either. He accuses the motel owner in Beth's kidnapping and soon attacks him when the man makes another lewd comment about her after he shows the officer a picture that's in his wallet. The cop whacks him an the head several times and then arrests him, throwing him in the cop car.
Beth wakes up in a tub of ice the next day, a large sewn up incision up her abdomen where the baby was taken out. She staggers about the room, dresses herself and then manages to escape what appears to be the world's worst hospital. She runs for it until she comes to the locked gate. Screaming and sobbing she faints, only to be woken up by three other women.
Cameron on the other hand swipes the gun out of the holster Officer Underwood and forces him to let him go. Handcuffing the cop to a power pole before making a get away in his car.
Beth and the three other women Veronica (Freya Stafford), Ivy (Clare Bowen) and Allison (Sophie Lowe) begin to explore the facility. They hear a scuffle and a scream and discover another woman who had her stiches ripped open and is now bleeding to death. The woman tells them to take care of her baby, it was blue. Now we pull back to reveal a couple watching the women at the facility on a CCTV. Their faces aren't shown, but it's obviously the same couple from the motel.
The four women decide to split up into two groups, because nothing bad ever happens when you split up. Ivy and Allison, who has remained mute this entire time go one way and discover a box full of pictures and a filing cabinet full of cameras. The two women further split up when Ivy decides to eat a bag of fruit (truthfully I don't know what it was). Allison is hijacked by who ever killed the other woman and is murdered herself. At this point the couple is shown putting a red line through Allison's picture and are revealed to have six files total, one pile for the still living women, the other pile for the dead women.
The women meet up with at Allison's body discover a green rectangle piece in her abdomen. The killer was unable to get it before the other women arrived. At this point the three decide to stick together. That's when they find the room full of babies. In cages. It's both as horribly and not as horrible as you might be thinking. They are in little beds with cages over them, each baby has a colored tag on it's foot, one of them is blue. This is when it dawns on the women that each of them has a color tag sewn into her abdomen that indicates the which baby is hers.
Cameron meanwhile arrives back at the hotel beats the hotel clerk, finds out where his wife is being held and goes there. Until he runs over a spike strip just outside of the facility, rolls the car several times and then dies.
Yep. He's dead. No rescue for Beth.
The Veronica, having revealed earlier that she is a doctor, suggests they go to a vet lab she found when she first woke up, indicating that with a little help she'd be able to remove the remaining tags. On the way there they are confronted by a couple of dingo's (dingo's ate my mommy?). The women run. Beth and Veronica one way, falling into a pit. Ivy another way hiding under a feeding trough. Night falls (the day night cycle in Australia must be insanely short). Beth has her dream again, being woken up by Veronica. Veronica tells Beth that she has dislocated her knee and can't climb out of the pit. Beth crawls out and goes in search of something to help Veronica. Ivy crawls out from beneath the trough and tries to find a way out of the holding pens when she is attacked by the murderer (who by this time has been revealed as a woman).
Beth finds a small trailer that is obviously being lived in but before she can get away the lone occupant arrives, Duncan (Marcel Bracks) carrying Ivy in a wheelbarrow. Duncan is mentally disabled, but is bribed by Beth with some candy. Duncan gets nervous and runs, Beth running after him, tackling him when he is distracted by a toy dump truck. She finds a couple of cages which she takes back for Veronica to use as a stepping stool.
The two women find the clinic and Veronica begins to cut the tag out of herself. Soon the murderer arrives and shuts off the breaker. Beth goes to turn it back on and the murder stabs Veronica and finishes cutting the tag out of her belly. Beth and the other woman fight, Beth throwing her back on a metal spike, seemingly killing her. She then holds Veronica until she dies, Veronica making her promise to take care of her baby. When Beth stands up, the other woman is gone.
Beth follows the trail of blood to a disused bathroom finding the other woman having finally removed her own tag. She threatens to drop the tag down a drain unless Beth promises to take her baby from this place (she's going to be hellaciously busy with 4 babies). She tells Beth that a woman told her that if she ever wanted to see her baby she'd have to cut the tags out of fiver other women and bring them to her. Beth, with the last tag in hand runs back to the room where the babies are. They're gone. She's upset but has little time to contemplate before the lights are cut and she's knocked out. We see an ambulance leave the facility, and then a short scene where Officer Underwood and the motel owner are carrying Beth and chain her to the floor.
This is where it's revealed. Ms. Shepard, Duncan's mother, runs a child adoption ring. Wealthy couples are brought a selection of six pregnant women to choose from. The women then fight to the death (somewhat unknowingly) until only one is left. The new parents are given the baby and the husband kills the mother. Right before Beth dies, Duncan arrives. There's a short showdown before the "father" shoots Duncan and is then shot himself (as well as his wife) by Duncan's double barrel shotgun. Beth takes the keys (which Duncan reminds her she has right before he is shot) and unlocks herself and goes to hunt Ms. Shepard. Ms. Shepard fled down the hall with the baby, leaving it on a desk as a distraction while she went to find a file.
Yep. A file. Ms. Shepard reveals to Beth that she herself was bought from this facility, her mother's number was XXVIII. She gives Beth the file and shocked and enraged Beth kills the woman, first by unsuccessfully trying to shoot her with the empty shotgun, and then by eviscerating her with the keys. We cut to what appear to be sheriff deputies and real medical personal comforting Beth. One officer reveals the unfortunate demise of her husband. We cut to several months later and Beth and the baby are visiting her biological mother's grave. She passes a man on the way there and when she arrives at the grave she notices fresh flowers have been placed on it. She asks the gravedigger working nearby who he was and he tells her that it's his wife's grave, she disappeared years ago while pregnant and they never found her body. She asks if he lives in town and is told he is and sets off to go find him.
Roll credits.
Now, before I start in, I want to say I liked this movie. It wasn't what I expected, and that's not necessarily bad. Does that mean it's good? Well, no. But it's not horrible either.
The biggest problem is it's not what it sells itself. From the cover it looks like it would probably be gore-fest, with babies being ripped out of mothers abdomen with all the blood and horror that would ensue with that. But the Australians are not as soulless as the French or as disturbed as the Chinese, so you never see anything like that. It has a hint of that, obviously the women are having Cesarean sections and I'm not sure they were done with the greatest of care (the stitches would indicate no). But the film isn't particularly gory. Sure it has moments of blood, but no guts and it never really revels in it. It isn't a straight slasher flick either. There's a hint of that, with the one mother going around and killing each of the others to find their tags but even then she has an amazingly emotionally strong reason for doing it. It isn't quite "red necks in the middle of nowhere" either, though once again it has hints of it. Nor is it a straight thriller, though it has hints. Or a revenge flick, though it has hints. The biggest problem is, most of the stuff it teases with works, but it isn't completely satisfying. When I watch a horror film I expect a feeling of dread. That knot tightening in my stomach either by the tension created by director and cinematographer, or by the visuals I'm seeing. I never quite had that here. I'm sure if I were a mother, or even just a parent, I might feel differently. But the story here, as horrifying as it is felt like it shouldn't have been told trying to use horror movie tropes, and that's exactly what the director did.
Now the acting isn't bad. Not spectacular by any means, but the actors do their jobs reasonably well and I even found myself really liking both Beth and Cameron. Which is good, as it actually pissed me off at then end when it was revealed he was dead. Why not kill him earlier? Well, I can only imagine it was to give the three actors who played the hotel manager and Officer Underwood, and Cameron some more screen time. I honestly don't know why. Build false hope?
The movie is riddled with horror cliches, and when it's over it doesn't quite feel like a horror film, but in spite of all of that it seems to work. Don't ask me how, but it does. It's not going to change the way you look at horror, but it isn't a bad distraction for a Saturday or Sunday or even a weeknight after work.
2 1/2 out of 5 Beards.
The two women find the clinic and Veronica begins to cut the tag out of herself. Soon the murderer arrives and shuts off the breaker. Beth goes to turn it back on and the murder stabs Veronica and finishes cutting the tag out of her belly. Beth and the other woman fight, Beth throwing her back on a metal spike, seemingly killing her. She then holds Veronica until she dies, Veronica making her promise to take care of her baby. When Beth stands up, the other woman is gone.
Beth follows the trail of blood to a disused bathroom finding the other woman having finally removed her own tag. She threatens to drop the tag down a drain unless Beth promises to take her baby from this place (she's going to be hellaciously busy with 4 babies). She tells Beth that a woman told her that if she ever wanted to see her baby she'd have to cut the tags out of fiver other women and bring them to her. Beth, with the last tag in hand runs back to the room where the babies are. They're gone. She's upset but has little time to contemplate before the lights are cut and she's knocked out. We see an ambulance leave the facility, and then a short scene where Officer Underwood and the motel owner are carrying Beth and chain her to the floor.
This is where it's revealed. Ms. Shepard, Duncan's mother, runs a child adoption ring. Wealthy couples are brought a selection of six pregnant women to choose from. The women then fight to the death (somewhat unknowingly) until only one is left. The new parents are given the baby and the husband kills the mother. Right before Beth dies, Duncan arrives. There's a short showdown before the "father" shoots Duncan and is then shot himself (as well as his wife) by Duncan's double barrel shotgun. Beth takes the keys (which Duncan reminds her she has right before he is shot) and unlocks herself and goes to hunt Ms. Shepard. Ms. Shepard fled down the hall with the baby, leaving it on a desk as a distraction while she went to find a file.
Yep. A file. Ms. Shepard reveals to Beth that she herself was bought from this facility, her mother's number was XXVIII. She gives Beth the file and shocked and enraged Beth kills the woman, first by unsuccessfully trying to shoot her with the empty shotgun, and then by eviscerating her with the keys. We cut to what appear to be sheriff deputies and real medical personal comforting Beth. One officer reveals the unfortunate demise of her husband. We cut to several months later and Beth and the baby are visiting her biological mother's grave. She passes a man on the way there and when she arrives at the grave she notices fresh flowers have been placed on it. She asks the gravedigger working nearby who he was and he tells her that it's his wife's grave, she disappeared years ago while pregnant and they never found her body. She asks if he lives in town and is told he is and sets off to go find him.
Roll credits.
Now, before I start in, I want to say I liked this movie. It wasn't what I expected, and that's not necessarily bad. Does that mean it's good? Well, no. But it's not horrible either.
The biggest problem is it's not what it sells itself. From the cover it looks like it would probably be gore-fest, with babies being ripped out of mothers abdomen with all the blood and horror that would ensue with that. But the Australians are not as soulless as the French or as disturbed as the Chinese, so you never see anything like that. It has a hint of that, obviously the women are having Cesarean sections and I'm not sure they were done with the greatest of care (the stitches would indicate no). But the film isn't particularly gory. Sure it has moments of blood, but no guts and it never really revels in it. It isn't a straight slasher flick either. There's a hint of that, with the one mother going around and killing each of the others to find their tags but even then she has an amazingly emotionally strong reason for doing it. It isn't quite "red necks in the middle of nowhere" either, though once again it has hints of it. Nor is it a straight thriller, though it has hints. Or a revenge flick, though it has hints. The biggest problem is, most of the stuff it teases with works, but it isn't completely satisfying. When I watch a horror film I expect a feeling of dread. That knot tightening in my stomach either by the tension created by director and cinematographer, or by the visuals I'm seeing. I never quite had that here. I'm sure if I were a mother, or even just a parent, I might feel differently. But the story here, as horrifying as it is felt like it shouldn't have been told trying to use horror movie tropes, and that's exactly what the director did.
Now the acting isn't bad. Not spectacular by any means, but the actors do their jobs reasonably well and I even found myself really liking both Beth and Cameron. Which is good, as it actually pissed me off at then end when it was revealed he was dead. Why not kill him earlier? Well, I can only imagine it was to give the three actors who played the hotel manager and Officer Underwood, and Cameron some more screen time. I honestly don't know why. Build false hope?
The movie is riddled with horror cliches, and when it's over it doesn't quite feel like a horror film, but in spite of all of that it seems to work. Don't ask me how, but it does. It's not going to change the way you look at horror, but it isn't a bad distraction for a Saturday or Sunday or even a weeknight after work.
2 1/2 out of 5 Beards.
Labels: Movie Reviews
posted by F.G. Shaw @ 4:07 AM
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