Friday, February 11, 2011

Not Another Outbreak Movie


Wanting to go along with the lecture today about biosafety and lab outbreaks I found this gem of a movie, Warning Sign, which is of the sci-fi horror genre and is garnered around a "secret" government laboratory, disguised as a pesticide manufacturer (pretty original) in order to pursue work on an extremely virulent biological weapon (not so original).
As you probably assumed, the plot revolves around the fact that a sample is released into the lab and the plant is shut down with the workers quarantined inside, "left to wait out the deadly effects."
Now here it gets interesting: "A local County Sheriff whose pregnant worker wife is trapped inside, and with the help of a past employee who is a known alcoholic, must fight through a government agency and the chemically affected workers to find his wife and put a stop to the spread of the lethal weapon." There are so many things wrong with that. Why is a pregnant woman working in a lab with life-threatening cultures? I'm pretty sure there has to be some kind of regulation that prohibits that. I guess she must find out she's pregnant after the outbreak.
Also let's not forget about the helpful alcoholic buddy who used to work with the pregnant wife in the plant. His past connection with the lab probably stirs him into action when he hears of the outbreak. How noble.
Anyways, the trailer is pretty awesome. My favorite part has to be when some lab attendant slides under some closing barrier for much needed dramatic effect. And if you pause the trailer at exactly 44 seconds you get to see the big nasty disease in action. Apparently it gives you fluorescent green eyes (not a bad symptom) and leaves your skin covered in soap bubbles and black splotches. Unfortunately the trailer does not show how it kills you or how it is transmitted from person to person (even though it is implied that that is the mode of transmission) but it does leave you wanting more. But don't just take my word for it, you can watch the trailer yourself: Warning Sign trailer

1 comment:

John Latto said...

Awesome! Thanks for that. This one somehow escaped me. I only fear that the film will be disappointing after the awesomeness of the trailer. Which I think I need to watch again...