Errors of the Human Body recently played in the small Arena Cinema theater on Hollywood this weekend. This film should have been playing in more venues on how well it was made as it's no B-movie, but a top notch sci-fi drama with some nice horror beats.The plot centers on an out of place geneticist, Dr. Geoff Burton played by Michael Eklund. Dr. Burton is dealing with the death of his son due to a disease that caused massive tumors to grow all over him at birth. He's still looking into why it happened , but has had no major breakthroughs causing him to leave his job in America and come to a new lab in Dresden, Germany. In Dresden he meets up with his old lab assistant whose work might mean a huge break through for genetics. Problems with another scientist over who owns the work and secrets with Dr. Burton's son's death still haunting him lead to a terrible situation.
This movie captured the aesthetic of the past I haven't seen since the 80's of a slow movement to something dark until at least mid way into the film. There's a build up of the story of what's going on that makes it more a science fiction drama than an all out horror film. There are nods to the horror film past with some bad dream sequences and terrifying moments, but it's never a flat out horror film.
One of the key scenes I enjoyed was an office party taking place at a club with everyone in costume. Dr. Burton's character gets in altercation and in a skeleton make-up face looks like he's crying blood. It's not forced, but it looks so beautiful and is such a different setting from the cold sterile view of the lab your at for all the movie up until that point.Every actor did a great job, but there were some wonderful roles to play. The head of the genetics lab is an outgoing happy British man, blind to anything bad happening within the lab. He was a great parallel to how intense the drama was unfolding in the film. A bald scientist whose the main antagonist comes off like a jerk in such a weird way. You just want to hate him. A simple Japanese scientist who acted beyond nerdy stole the show for me in a cafeteria scene. He reconstructed a fish skeleton after eating it. He also had one of the worst shaves ever with hair patches all over his face.
Michael Eklund the lead actor in the film attended the screening I attended He was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the film after it led out.
It turns out filming took place over two months.The facility used was the real world's largest genetic lab facility. Eklund told me that everyone who wasn't talking in the film or when he passed a lab was a real scientist working. The hardest scene for him was being shirtless in 40 below weather for a scene that takes places later on in the film. Spoilers The special effects were done by someone who did work on the Harry Potter films, this includes a fake head with mice spewing from it. It also took 6 hours for Eklund to get into make-up for his final transformation.
