The Eugenist comes to us produced, written and directed by Tariq Nasheed, author of New York Times bestseller The Art of Mackin’(2000) and the creative force behind the documentaries Hidden Colors(2011) & Hidden Colors 2(2012). Here he tries his hand at filmmaking within the horror genre and like the many others before him who have had success in other areas that have tried creating horror, doesn’t hit a home-run in his first batting attempt.

The story consists of a group of college kids who stumble upon an abandoned school while wandering around at night in an area of town which is unfamiliar to them. They decide to hop the fence & explore, but once inside they find there is a good reason why the school has been closed, that they are far from alone and trapped inside someone’s horror experiment into eugenics.

The film itself is very short, with a runtime just under 70 minutes, it does have a hidden scene after the credits which seems to be a setup for a sequel possibility in case anyone is interested. The concept of eugenics does have all kinds of potential and it would have been great if they incorporated more screen time to flesh out what happened at the start of the experiment. Maybe showing us shots of their early experimentation and giving the viewer a quick montage of how the process turned people into the violent creatures shown in the film. Most of the actors, despite some of their previous experience, deliver pretty uninspiring performances.

The film doesn’t have the best cinematography likely due to budget constraints. I found the lighting identical in many scenes, whether they were in a house, on the street or in a dark area inside the school, everything looked to be lit in the same manner. The sound wasn’t a problem and it was edited smooth although I felt there were many scenes in which the camera was fixed for too long, likely hampered by lack of funds for the additional shots in order to move the story along at a faster pace. The same goes for the special efx/make-up, all done in a very minimal cost-effective way. Overall I’ve seen much worse, but in the end, I feel The Eugenist will get lost in the ocean of average ‘b’ grade horror flicks.

Grade: C

Review by Jim Davis

For a second look, check out Nav’s review here.