A group of soldiers go through a sleep-deprivation experiment designed to increase combat availability. Using a drug concoction called "juice" the soldiers perform mission after mission flawlessly for three weeks with incredible efficiency until they began seeing "freaks," hallucinations induced by the combination of drugs and sleep deprivation. After a training accident kills one trooper a scientist is sent to evaluate the program. By the time she begins her investigation the remaining troopers are beginning to have difficulty separating reality from hallucination.
The first half of the movie is the more interesting as the problems are gradually uncovered, but the second half lags as it turns into an X-Files style cover-up/conspiracy flick. The low-budget is covered well for most of the film but shows glaringly at times. Definitely worth a watch. All the actors are pretty convincing, particularly Richard Tyson as the senior NCO who looks and sounds exactly like what a hard-assed senior NCO should look like and sound like. Ron Perlman has played the evil guy enough times to do it sleepwalking and does enough to pull it off here. But Mary Ward as the scientist sent in ostensibly to rubber-stamp her approval on the project comes off best as she slowly discovers what is wrong and also realizes she is virtually powerless to prevent what is happening. *** out of *****
The first half of the movie is the more interesting as the problems are gradually uncovered, but the second half lags as it turns into an X-Files style cover-up/conspiracy flick. The low-budget is covered well for most of the film but shows glaringly at times. Definitely worth a watch. All the actors are pretty convincing, particularly Richard Tyson as the senior NCO who looks and sounds exactly like what a hard-assed senior NCO should look like and sound like. Ron Perlman has played the evil guy enough times to do it sleepwalking and does enough to pull it off here. But Mary Ward as the scientist sent in ostensibly to rubber-stamp her approval on the project comes off best as she slowly discovers what is wrong and also realizes she is virtually powerless to prevent what is happening. *** out of *****