The thing I love the most about Troma films is the underlying social and political satire. Though you usually do not get that with many of the films Troma picks up, Viral Assassins is a film that provides one of the best commentaries on the status of health care in the United States. Originally titled Just Work, director Robert Larkin has created an Eraserhead-esque dark comedy statement that has gone unnoticed and definately needs to be seen.
The film focuses on three government workers, Bobby, Billy, and Sydney, who meet to discuss their business quarter. However, their work isn't what you'd expect: they're assassins whose job is to eliminate everyone who is tainted with a disease, due to the staggering costs of caring for them. They begin to share their work stories with each other. Sydney, a young kid who's new to the job, weaves a tall tale involving killing his assignment with a bow and arrow, when the truth is much different. Bobby is a sick individual who takes a great pride in the amount of people he's killed during the past month. Finally Billy, tells his story, which is much different. He discovered that his assignment was a government worker who was searching for a cure for the disease and got infected. He lets her go free, which may jeopardize both their work and even moreso, Billy's life.
In an age where every American is fearing the looming threat of AIDS, the barely threatening SARS, and the more-important-than-we-seem-to-believe onset of Mad Cow disease in the US and after the lack of flu shots, Viral Assassins gives us a very interesting look at a "what if" scenario of where health care could go in America. Mixing in seriousness of the subject matter with a very dark sense of humor and David Lynch inspired setting gives the film a feel all of it's own. Robert Larkin has created a very interesting concept and executes it almost flawlessly.
Take note, I said almost flawlessly. One big problem is that the actors deliver some very wooden and almost laughably bad performances. One scene where Sydney delivers a monologue of his choice of the bow and arrow almost reminded me of a deadpan Kids In the Hall sketch, instead of a thriller set in a near-apocalyptic future setting. Though the film runs at a brisk 83 minutes, there's a bit too much padding that tends to distract from the story at times instead of help it.
One minor quibble that my brother pointed out when I showed the film to him is that the assassins can choose to eliminate their assignments in anyway they feel necessary. If the government ever resorted to a system of elimination, there would most likely only be one set way of killing the infected victim. But honestly, I think that's a bit of over analyzation. If you watch Viral Assassins with an understanding of it's low-budget and the fact that it's not supposed to be a realistic view of what the future could become, you'll probably find yourself looking upon one of the most brilliant and under-rated social commentary to come out in the past decade. It's unfortunate that the Troma DVD release is bare-bones, with a lackluster video transfer. I would have really liked to hear what Robert Larkin has to say about his film.
Viral Assassins is very highly recommended by Tromatized! If you haven't already seen it, you should pick it up immediately. I'd say it's up there with Suicide as the best Troma DVD releases of 2004.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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