Mayhem (2017)

Mayhem takes workplace frustration and turns it into a particularly nasty outbreak movie. The idea that an infection can strip away people's inhibitions gives the filmmakers an excuse to turn an ordinary office building into a place where every resentment becomes dangerous. I liked the premise because it puts a recognizable kind of anger into a completely ridiculous horror situation.

Steven Yeun carries the movie well. His character has legitimate reasons to be furious about the way the company treats him, and you can see how the outbreak changes what he's willing to do. Samara Weaving is also entertaining, bringing enough energy and attitude to make the central partnership work. I enjoyed watching them navigate a building full of people who have stopped pretending to be civilized.

The film has an interesting mixture of action, horror and satire. The violence is extremely bloody at times, and the office setting gives the fights an unusual backdrop. There is something funny about watching all the small humiliations of corporate life turn into actual combat. The movie knows how to use that joke without forgetting that the characters are in real danger.

I don't think Mayhem is especially scary. It plays more like an action film with a horror premise, and I can understand that disappointing someone who wants suspense or dread. The infection is a mechanism that lets the story become increasingly violent rather than a creature you're waiting to see.

My biggest reservation is that the brutality can feel relentless. There are moments when the people behave so cruelly that the experience becomes less fun, even with the satirical angle. I think the movie works best when the humor and action keep that ugliness in balance.

Still, I appreciate the creative approach. Mayhem moves quickly, has two strong leads and finds a bloody way to say something about how people behave when professional consequences disappear. It's not my favorite of Samara Weaving's horror comedies, but it's an energetic, entertaining entry in the genre.

Mayhem was my least favorite of the Samara Weaving movies I watched close together. That doesn't mean the actors were bad. I liked her, and I thought Steven Yeun did a good job, too. My problem was that the movie felt so mean. It reminded me of people behaving horribly at work, only now they were actually hurting one another.

I understand the idea. A virus makes people stop controlling their impulses, so all the anger and frustration that usually stays hidden in an office suddenly comes out. That is an interesting premise, and I'm sure plenty of people can relate to being frustrated with a boss or a coworker. I just didn't find it especially frightening.

There is a lot of action and blood. The characters are fighting their way through the building, and it gets very violent. I kept thinking that it was more of an action movie than a scary movie. I didn't spend much time nervous about a monster or wondering what might be hiding around a corner. I was watching people act awful and then fight about it.

Sometimes the humor worked, and I can appreciate that the filmmakers were making fun of the corporate world. There are definitely situations where the movie is so exaggerated that you have to laugh. But I didn't enjoy the cruelty as much as I enjoyed the craziness in the other horror comedies I'd been watching.

I also wanted a little more reason to care about the people involved. I could understand the two leads and their reasons for being upset, but a lot of the other characters mostly seemed to exist so the story could throw them into another violent situation. That isn't always enough to keep me interested.

I wouldn't say Mayhem was a terrible movie. It's fast, the actors are good, and I understand why somebody who likes bloody action would enjoy it. It just wasn't what I wanted from horror. I like being scared or laughing at something outrageous, and this felt like a lot of angry people being horrible to each other.