[yasr_overall_rating]
A virus spreads through an office complex causing white collar workers to act out their worst impulses.
I’ve been a big fan of “The Walking Dead” since its TV inception back in 2010 and over the course of the series, there have been a lot of characters that I really like, Rick, Carl, Daryl, Michonne, Carol, but Glenn (Steven Yeun) was always a longstanding favorite. In the show from the very beginning up until his (un)timely demise at the beginning of season seven, he was always the one character that could be counted on to do the right thing and he always had a conscience. I cannot think of a better actor to star in Joe Lynch’s horror/comedy “Mayhem,” in which he plays Derek Cho, an attorney who works at a corporate law office the very same day the building is put under quarantine from a virus outbreak.
Having worked his way up the corporate ladder to an eventual corner office and an assistant, Derek is beginning to feel worthless at his job. Watching those around him go through the same mundane tasks every single day, he wonders if there is more to life. He is soon informed that the company has a big problem file with one of their highest-paying customers and that he was responsible for the issue. When he informs them that he never worked with this customer, they show him proof of his signature and he realizes that he is being used as the fall guy for someone else’s mistake and is quickly fired. As security walk him toward the front door, everyone inside is surprised to see people in Hazmat suits outside, sealing off the building. Management is informed that there was an outbreak of ID-7, or the Red Eye Virus, where a person who contracts the disease, is prone to acting out their wildest impulses, whether that is bashing their annoying co-worker’s head in with a golf club, or having sex with their hot secretary. Everyone is told that the building will be sealed off for the next eight hours as that is how long it takes for the virus to work its way out of the human body.
Naturally, people who haven’t begun to feel the effects of the virus yet are panicking but eventually, one by one, they all succumb to it. Derek meets Melanie Cross (Samara Weaving), a home-owner who was at the building, trying to get an extension on her mortgage loan when the virus outbreak began and with Derek feeling unfairly treated and wanting his job back, and Melanie wanting help with her loan, they decide to team up together and make their way to the top floor so they can have a little chat with John Towers (Steven Brand), the BIG boss, sits in luxury, surrounded by his nine board members. Of course, it isn’t as easy as climbing the stairs or taking the elevator as access to the higher floors require special key cards but in order to retrieve them, Derek and Melanie must first make their way to HR to confront The Reaper (Dallas Roberts), the man who visits all those getting ready to be fired, and then onto The Siren (Caroline Chikezie), the beautiful but venomous HR Manager who has the big boss’s ear on anything and everything to do with the company. Loaded with nail guns, hammers, saws, and pretty much anything they can get their hands on, the duo make their way throughout the building, cutting down anyone who gets in their way and because they cannot be held accountable for their actions while under the virus’ influence, a court of law has already stated that the virus is not deadly but the infected person is, they only have a small timeframe in order to get what they want.
Similar in narrative structure to “28 Days Later,” where the virus causes the recipients to do things they normally wouldn’t do, “Mayhem” takes that exact same story structure and confines it to a building but instead of everyone tearing each other apart, which has been done countless times before, we are told that the virus causes people to lose all moral control and do whatever they desire, perverted or homicidal and that it only lasts eight hours. In some scenes, in the background, people can be seen throwing co-workers over balconies and in some instances, having sex with each other. Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving are the perfect couple who initially hate each other but over the course of their very bloody day together, fall for each other and indubitably, have sex along the way. While there is a lot of blood and gore, director Joe Lynch adds some much-needed humor which permeates throughout the entire film and you sometimes find yourself laughing at something so deranged, you wonder if the virus leaked into your living room and infected you too.
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