At the Houston Federal Building, a disgruntled domestic terrorists sets off a bomb that not only rocks the building but also unleashes a government-designed nerve gas that turns anyone exposed to it into an animalistic, rage-fueled zombie who attacks everyone that they see.  Soon, the building is full of former friends and co-workers who are now obsessed with ripping each other to shreds.  The few people who were not exposed to the nerve gas are hiding on the top floor.  Under the reluctant leadership of Cale (Jason London), they try to figure out how to escape from the building.

Meanwhile, on the outside, Police Chief Grosso (C. Thomas Howell) and Fire Chief Lohan (Lochlyn Munro) attempt to rescue as many people as they can before the building is blown up.  The scientist on the scene (Robert Carradine) sees all of this as a research opportunity while a sinister government agent (Judd Nelson) conspires to keep word about what has happened from reaching the public.

With its images of suit-and-tie wearing madmen trying to kill everyone in the building, The Terror Experiment may seem like it would have much in common with The Belko Experiment (which came out a few years after Terror Experiment) but actually, The Terror Experiment is mash-up of Die Hard and 28 Days Later, with Jason London and Lochlyn Munro filling in for Bruce Willis and Reginald Veljohnson.  With its frequent scenes of formerly normal people suddenly going mad and turning into homicidal maniacs, The Terror Experiment has its effective moments and Jason London does the best that anyone probably could with the role of the film’s reluctant hero.  But the film also suffers because you never really get to know who any of these people were before they were trapped in the building and there aren’t really any emotional stakes to whether or not they’ll manage to get out.  As well, the scenes outside the building often fill like filler that was included so that some “name” actors could be recruited to appear in the film.  Howell, Carradine, and Nelson are all fine in their roles but the only thing they add to the movie is an opportunity to recreate the one of the most crowd-pleasing moments from the finale of Die Hard.

The Terror Experiment is occasionally diverting but it’s hard not to feel that it never really reaches its potential.