Every Halloween, horror critics tend to produce lists of film suggestions to properly celebrate Samhain. I’ve done so myself, in this very column. These lists are helpful for people who are new to horror movies, but sometimes the choices on these lists for those of us who have watched a lot of scary cinema become, shall we say, familiar. I wanted to try and suggest a film I have never seen mentioned on any of these lists, a picture that is undeservedly obscure and worthy of a larger audience. I refer to writer/director Philip Chidel’s 2006 Subject Two, a smart, creative indie that makes up for its limited budget with a cold-blooded concept taken to chilly extremes.
As this film isn’t very well known, I’m going to initially try to discuss it spoiler-free. But as most of my interest in what the story does will require describing it in detail, I’ll include a spoiler warning at some point and get into what makes the picture special there.
The story begins at the end of a life and death struggle. Two men are desperately grappling for survival on a snowy mountain peak. A gun lays nearby, dropped during the skirmish. One of them manages to grab the weapon and shoots the other man in the head, killing him. Elsewhere, medical student Adam (Christian Oliver) is being berated by a professor in college for his arrogant attitude and fails out of the class. Adam essentially has no friends and only cares about his blog, but now he needs a job. He’s quite surprised when he receives a call from a stranger, Dr. Vick (Dean Stapleton), offering him a vague position with the promise of being able to do science without unwelcome oversight. Adam, intrigued, travels up to Vick’s isolated cabin in the mountains, a place above the clouds where one can look down upon humanity like a god. He’s not sure what awaits him there, but it’s certainly nothing he could ever have expected.
Spoiler-free assessment of the film: Subject Two, due to budget constraints, has a deliberately limited scope. There is essentially one set, but the shooting location of the mountains high above Aspen, Colorado, provide stunning production value. Most of the film is just Oliver and Stapleton interacting, but their performances are compelling and convincing. Oliver provides an interesting combination of sympathy and curiosity as Adam, and Stapleton is icily amusing/startling as Vick, looking physically like The Shining-era Jack Nicholson and sharing that crazy grin. Chidel’s direction is sometimes a bit too busy with quick edits and sudden closeups, but overall, it works, and his script is intelligent and ruthless. The horror is derived from this clinical scientific outlook. This isn’t a movie for people who are looking for jump scares and garish gore; it’s a twisted slow-burn drama about how far people are willing to go to achieve their possibly insane goals.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Abandon all hope of not knowing what happens, all ye who enter here…
Subject Two is a very clever adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The novel was originally subtitled The Modern Prometheus, and that reference to Greek myth and the unfortunate Titan who stole from the gods to benefit humanity is very relevant to this movie. Shortly after Adam enters the cabin, Dr. Vick kills him and then (via a combo of nanotechnology and cryonics) brings him back to life. But, as it’s a work-in-progress, he kills and revives Adam (a Biblical reference to “the first man”) over and over again to get it right, putting the hapless “Subject Two” through endless torment. Where is “Subject One?” I’ll leave that question for the film to answer.
Vick informs Adam that he was chosen as a test subject partly because of his scientific knowledge but mainly because nobody would miss him or come looking. All things considered, however, Adam isn’t that upset initially about constantly getting murdered. He knows the science is important and is content to be part of it. Vick promises that Adam will one day leave the cabin and outlive the rest of the world. He promises scientific glory. “Imagine when we come down from the mountain with this gift of fire,” Vick says, comparing their work to that of Prometheus. But gradually side effects become unendurable for Adam, and Vick won’t let him die.
The film questions existence versus quality of life, and Chidel’s script structure is as if Frankenstein is being told from the viewpoint of the monster. Oliver gets a lot of mileage from a pair of pale blue contact lenses to denote his undead state. Stapleton’s performance is very different from the usual “mad scientist” tropes – more of a blue collar “just do the work” vibe – but underneath it one can still hear Dr. Herbert West’s rejoinder: “I didn’t kill him. I gave him life!”
The title screens declare Subject Two to be “a Philip Chidel experiment,” and it’s certainly that, and a mostly successful one. It’s so focused on the writing and performances that it could almost be a play, but when the talent and concepts are this strong, that’s fine. It’s currently available to stream on Amazon Prime, but if you have the DVD, the special features and commentary are fascinating. The film was actually shot in a mountain cabin that took hours and great difficulty to get to by snowmobile. The fact that they were able to complete it at all is an admirable achievement. Chidel is even in the film in an important cameo.
I like many things about Subject Two, and I think it deserves a look from horror fans who are open to something different. There’s an effective twist/surprise at the end that the film sets up fairly – waste not, want not. I hope this film will be an enjoyable addition to watch lists for this Halloween.
Terry Morgan has been writing professionally since 1990 for publications such as L.A Weekly, Backstage West and Variety, among others. His love of horror cinema knows no bounds, though some have suggested that a few bounds might not be a bad thing.