The Clinic
I have to admit that I was not expecting "The Clinic" to be a good film. It initially starts with a predictable story about a man (Andy Whitfield) and his pregnant girlfriend (Tabrett Bethell) stopping in a seedy motel in the middle of nowhere only to find that the manager at the motel is part of a diabolical conspiracy. It seems a little cliché’ and fantastic but "The Clinic" does pay off if you can suspend disbelief and watch the story unravel.
The film intentionally moves slowly, which is not good for a generation raised on fast editing, but is well worth the wait if you can be patient. The story, as if in real time, reveals clues by introducing new characters that collectively figure out the true secret of the clinic. In the clinic, the pregnant women that were abducted wake up in a tub of ice to discover a quick C-section has removed their baby. The women eventually find each other and their babies but can’t escape. In order to identify their babies they must resort to extreme measures; they also find out that someone is trying to kill them. Without giving away any more details that would spoil the film, the women figure out, the hard way, the secret of the clinic.

I don’t know if I would classify this film as a horror film; really is a suspense film, although there is one very scary scene where one of the women walks into a caged area with a turnstile. As she passes thru the turnstile, the number counter reads 1 but when she tries to exit she notices the counter reads 2! She is not alone.  It spooked me.

The Clinic is a well-crafted creepy film that has some interesting twists and turns worth sticking around to watch. The story relies on the suspension of disbelief from the viewer, that the clinic would be able to do what they do in the first place, but it’s a fun ride when all the pieces of the puzzle are put into place. I really appreciate having a story instead of mindless slaughter and I hope the film can find a distributor in the United States. Did I mention the film is Australian? Does it matter?  The film is written and directed by James Rabbitts.