Neal (Danny Masterson, KILLING WINSTON JONES) is a millionaire and corporate. He’s also so immature that he spends part of a business meeting playing with a remote control helicopter. At the same time, he’s awaiting his own personal chopper, which will pick him up on the skyscraper’s roof and take them to an island off the coast. Awaiting him are his longtime friends, who Neal has promised an “epic” weekend. There’s Jason (Justin Chatwin, CBS’ AMERICAN GOTHIC), Joey (Alexis Knapp, the PITCH PERFECT movies), Vick (Chris Geere, FXX’s YOU’RE THE WORST), Denise (Bar Paly, HEADLOCK) and Neal’s girlfriend Theresa (Ashley Greene, horror anthology HOLIDAYS).
After getting reacquainted at Neal’s mansion, the gang heads out to an exclusive club, where the bartender asks, “Are you ready for all this?” The group initially thinks that the place is crawling with all of the sorts of drugs that make such a club what it is. Little do they know that it’s not ecstasy or Special K or cocaine that’s making its way around, but rather a designer drug called Urge, which they get access to from a man known as, well, The Man (Pierce Brosnan, SURVIVOR).
Urge, which The Man describes as “a perfect creation,” is an inhalant that sends its user well past “high,” allowing them to indulge in their craziest fantasies. It’s so strong and desirable that you’re only allowed to take it once in your lifetime. After inevitably partaking, Neal and his guests hit the dance floor, the couches and the human birdcages, grinding strangers and sweating all over themselves. The next day, they all get the itch to “Urge out” again. The result? Well, there’s a reason you’re only supposed to take it once…
If one wants to find a deeper meaning in URGE, they could argue that it can work as a cautionary tale, with the main point being, It’s OK to have fun and get wild but don’t press your luck. But with the clear dangers that could occur if clubbers dabble in the plethora of unfamiliar drugs out there, that argument turns out to be misguided.
There is a bit of confusion as to whether or not to take URGE seriously. At points, it is over the top, as when one of the main females practically has sex with a birthday cake. At others points, it’s unsettling, as when characters are shoved through windows and others are raped. If there’s a lesson to be found, both director Aaron Kaufman (his debut; he previously served as a producer on MACHETE KILLS, SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR and more) and writer Jerry Stahl (whose memoir of drug rehabilitation “Permanent Midnight” was turned into a 1998 movie) are unsure how to present it coherently.
With more focus and fewer moments more fitted for a slasher, URGE could have served as an enlightening work to show the poisonous results of addiction and abuse. Instead, its most profound moment involves a fitness freak being decapitated by barbells.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. Details are consistent throughout, but it’s the club sequences that show off with deep blacks and some vibrant shades.
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Subtitles in English and Spanish. Dialogue is clean throughout, but it’s the scenes in the club that come through the best.
Behind the Scenes of URGE (5:27) offers an overview of the plot and characters.
Trailer
UltraViolet
