Indie Horror Spotlight: Antisocial (2013)

DIRECTED BY
Cody Calahan

STARRING
Michelle Mylett - Samantha Rezner
Cody Thompson - Mark Archibald
Adam Christie - Jed Erickson
Aria Alic - Kaitlin Cosgrove
Romaine Waite - Steve McDonald
Ry Barrett - Chad Wilson
Laurel Brandes - Tara Ryder
Charlie Hamilton - Dan Hamilton

Genre - Horror/Survival/Technology/Virus

Running Time - 90 Minutes


PLOT
It's New Year's Eve, and Samantha (Michelle Mylett) is having a terrible end to the year. She and her boyfriend, Dan Hamilton (Charlie Hamilton) have broken up and he's made it public on a social networking site called The Social Redroom. Even though she's upset, she decides to go to a New Year's Eve party held by Mark (Cody Thompson) in order to forget about her problems with the company of good friends. After the partiers bond a bit, they hear and see news on television and the internet about people randomly going crazy and attacking others. The outbreak is so bad, it's recommended that no one goes outside and barricade themselves inside.

When the group start taking the news seriously, unwanted guests attempt to break in. Slowly, some of the partiers begin to bleed from their ear and nose, which is the sign of an infection. The virus begins to spread amongst the group, figuring out that it's being done via subliminal messages and signals through The Social Redroom. The signals cause the brains of users to expand, to the point where the infected become homicidal maniacs.


REVIEW
ANTISOCIAL is a low budget independent horror film that's being distributed by the good folks of Breaking Glass Pictures later in the month. The narrative isn't all that original. It follows the familiar path of a zombie movie. It has some sort of virus that infects people and gives them the urge to kill. It even has a strong message that's not executed as well as it probably could have been. Still, as predictable and unoriginal that ANTISOCIAL is, it's still 90 minutes worth watching.

The screenplay works well for the film's budget. Zombie/Infected films usually don't require a ton of cash, so it was smart of Cody Calahan and Chad Archibald to use this as a premise. It also helps when Calahan and Archibald do a lot of things right in terms of storytelling. We have a handful of characters that we grow to know somewhat, which helps bring about tension when the infection hits closer to home. They're all trapped in a single location, creating claustrophobia and maintaining the focus on where it should be. It's your usual zombie survival flick, but instead of dead people, it's people who are infected by a virus. All the cliches are there, but they're used well. I mean, without the message [that I'll discuss in the next paragraph], this would be a standard zombie film in which the characters do nothing but accuse each other of being infected until there's a single survivor. At least this portion is done well enough to be watchable and somewhat entertaining on its own.

The reason for this film's existence is really the message about social networking. Or in the case of ANTISOCIAL, the evils of being part of a social network. The infection is spread through the use of a Facebook wannabe called The Social Redroom, which seems to be the only network all these characters use, considering how quickly the infection spreads. The company supposed uses subliminal messaging, or signals within the network, to do bad things to users' brains to make them sick until they're hungry for flesh. Now this is nothing new. Films like THE LAWNMOWER MAN, THE SIGNAL, and KAIRO/PULSE, and novels like Stephen King's Cell, have all presented stories of technology spreading disease to those who use it. ANTISOCIAL wants to tell us that social media is like a disease that has infected us all. Most of us have lived our lives through social networking, as well as being part of other's lives through their use of the same network. Characters in the films are constantly on their phones, or on their computers, as a way to communicate with others. There's even talk about sex tapes, in how they're used to make the participants famous rather than keeping the act of intimacy private. I also liked how Samantha's friends look at her oddly when she reveals that she deleted her profile, to which one asks her - "How do you keep in contact with people?" When she replies that she does it in person, it's treated as if it's not a serious response. ANTISOCIAL is telling us that social networking is evil. It's an addiction, like with drugs or sex. We're addicted to revealing our personal information to others - more focused on spending time chatting via text or private messaging rather than doing that in person.

Unfortunately, ANTISOCIAL doesn't take that message as far as it should go. Instead of using the social commentary to drive the film, the script is more focused on the zombie-like aspect of the narrative by the halfway mark. It's not enough to just inform us that social networking is a bad thing. The script hits the viewer over the head with that fact multiple times. But that's all it is - a message that's repeated ad nauseam. There's nothing more to it than that, which is a missed opportunity. It should have been the thing to really drive the story. Instead, it's just there to make the standard zombie story seem a bit more intelligent.

Cody Calahan shows a ton of promise as a horror director to watch. ANTISOCIAL uses it limited budget well by doing some stylish techniques with the camera. I love the hallucination scenes in which the infected characters experience gruesome things happened to them. One pulls out their guts from their mouth. One stabs himself in the eye. The picture quality is more saturated during these scenes, which I thought was cool. Calahan also does well in terms of tension and suspense, especially once the infected start attacking others. I thought the scenes in which the characters watch videos of why the infection is around and how it spreads were done well, but felt ruined a bit of the mystery. At least the explanation was presented better than just through expository dialogue. It has a nice mood and the film looks good. I think Calahan is one to look out for in the near future.

The acting is decent for the most part. Most of the actors have amateurish performances, which is okay since the roles they play are fairly stereotypical. However, Michelle Mylett and Cody Thompson are very good in their roles as Samantha and Mark. Luckily, most of the scenes in the film involve them so the acting is more positive than negative. In particular, I really enjoyed Mylett as a tough, brave girl who happens to be very active and smart when it comes to the horrible situation she's put in. I think we'll be seeing more of her in the future if we're lucky.

THE FINAL HOWL

While not a perfect film, ANTISOCIAL is still a pretty solid horror film for those who like their zombie/infected monster movies with a bit of a relevant message. The film is tense, stylish for its limited budget, and has a good story that tells its narrative well enough to keep you engaged. And the acting by the leads, Michelle Mylett and Cody Thompson, are good. The idea that social networking is evil is a good one, but I wish ANTISOCIAL had done more with it to really make it stand out. Still, it's worth your 90 minutes of time  - that is if you can stay away from using your phone or computer to update your current status.



SCORE

3 Howls Outta 4

Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption (2011)

DIRECTED BY
Ryan Thompson

STARRING
Johnny Gel - Knox
Fred Williamson - Moses
Joseph Scott Anthony - Robert
Tommy Beardmore - Lucas
Jerry Lynch - Rome
Alicia Clark - Sarah
Angelique Sky - Cienfuegos

Genre - Action/Horror/Zombies

Running Time - 101 Minutes


PLOT
In the year 12 A.Z. [After Zombies], the Zombie Apocalypse Virus has wiped out most of the human population, to the point where zombies outnumber humans 10,000 to 1. An ex-military soldier named John Knox (Johnny Gel) escapes from prison with the help of a fellow inmate. The leader of the prison, Rome (Jerry Lynch), is upset about this and wants Knox dead for treason. While Knox is dying in the desert, he's saved by a group of soldiers before zombies attacked him.

While keeping an eye on him, the leader of this new group, Moses (Fred Williamson), sees that Knox would be a useful member to his army. The other members don't trust Knox as easily, but start to once he proves himself against the prisoners and a hoard of zombies. Eventually during an excursion for supplies, their camp is destroyed by Rome and his forces - even kidnapping several of the members, including Knox's love interest, Sarah (Alicia Clark). This motivates Knox, Moses, and the others to attack Rome's group, while a city of zombies hopes to bite into the scraps of the aftermath.

REVIEW

I watched ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: REDEMPTION for a couple of reasons. One, it was expiring on Netflix Instant. And two, I've been planning on reviewing every zombie movie ever made anyway, so I had to sit myself through this. I honestly had no idea ZA:R was a sequel [to ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, of course], and this film doesn't urge me to seek out the first installment. And although I read and heard really terrible things about this flick, I didn't think it was one of the worst films I had ever seen. It's far from great though, and a part of me wishes I hadn't wasted 101 minutes watching a pretty lame zombie-action film.

HITS
- The homages. ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: REDEMPTION has an extremely generic and faceless script. It seemed to be focused on ripping off as many films from the 1980s as it could to tie together some sort of story that audiences would want to watch. And while these inspirations look and feel superior to the original copies, at least they were amusing compared to most other things in this film.

Much of the film seems inspired by THE ROAD WARRIOR, with the outfits and action reflecting as such. We also get an ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK moment, where a character decides to put an eye patch over his eye before fighting a group of henchmen after he's caught sneaking onto their home turf. And there's even a RETURN OF THE JEDI moment, where Sarah [after being captured] is dressed like slave Princess Leia. I can see both the director and screenwriters [all four of them] were fans of these films. I just chuckled at these acknowledgements, while wishing I was spending time watching those three films instead. But at least something about the story entertained me.

- Certain bits of dialogue. While most of the dialogue is generic as hell and unmemorable, there are a few lines that deserve attention.

"Did I fuck your mother in another life or something?"

"Holy Jesus Christmas shit!"

"When I want your opinion, I'll rape it out of you."

The best part about that last line is that the recipient gave the quoter a blow job right after. Almost SHARK ATTACK 3: MEGALODON level, but not quite.

- The soundtrack. It's not a focus of the film, but I enjoyed the subtle synth score that played in the background. The music fit the mood and tone of the film, which enhanced it somewhat. Too bad the score wasn't meant for a better film, but at least I couldn't complain about the audio.

- The direction for the most part. Ryan Thompson's direction was fine for what it was. Considering the low budget, I thought Thompson handled the visuals better than expected. The action scenes, while not perfect, were shot well enough to understand what was going on. The picture quality looked grainy, but in a good way. It reminded me as if I was watching this on an 80s VHS tape. Some of the audio could have been fixed in post, such as dialogue that was muted for some reason, as well as some off-sync tracking. And I'll talk about the special effects in a later section. But I thought ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: REDEMPTION visually looked better than expected.


MISSES

- An uninspired screenplay. ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: REDEMPTION's biggest issue is the script. Four writers worked on this and... really?? This is what they came up with? A predictable, generic zombie-action film that takes the best elements of much superior films to create a story? The screenplay is the most important aspect of any film, but especially a low-budget film. You're not going to have money for great special effects, or high-quality cameras, or even professional actors. But it doesn't cost that much, except time and dedication, to write a more than decent screenplay. And this film fails at that.

Honestly, it's not the worst screenplay ever. It's actually okay. But it's so stale and lacks character. It's just there. We get typical stock characters. The ex-military guy turned hero. The badass boss of the group who chews the scenery. The boss' right-hand man who hates the hero at first, but becomes his best buddy by the end. The hopeful soldier who sees the light at the end of the tunnel. The tough chick who can fight, because she's the only chick in her group that can fight. You also get the creepy, hungry for power villain and his slutty girlfriend. It's a film about two gangs going to war against each other because they're the only humans left in their region. And they want control of it to make sure they survive the zombie apocalypse. It's DAY OF THE DEAD. It's THE ROAD WARRIOR. It's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. It's so many other films I've seen countless times, and seen done better. It gets really old after a while. At least add a new element to the story that makes it stand out. But it just coasts on what's familiar. It's a lazy script that's just competent enough.

And you would notice that I didn't mention any zombies in the above paragraph. That's because they're the guest stars in their own film. For a film called ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: REDEMPTION, there's better any inkling of zombies, an apocalypse, or any sort of redemption on anyone. If you wanted to have a gang vs. gang film, just do that. Why have zombies involved if they're not a focus? You'd be saving money and have a better focus. I admire those involved for being ambitious, but it didn't work for me. Sorry.

- The acting. For the most part, the acting in this movie is pretty terrible. While there are some decent performances, particularly by Johnny Gel, legend Fred Williamson, Alicia Clark, and Joseph Scott Anthony, most of the others were just dreadful. The one that really stood out was Jerry Lynch as Rome. I don't even know what this man was directed to do. But this guy was hamming it up like no other. Was he a vampire? A drama major in college? The villain should be badass, or menacing, or entertaining for all the right reasons. All Lynch did was make me laugh with his silly dialogue and line delivery. I just couldn't take the guy seriously. The film was silly enough. I wish the portrayal was a bit more serious.

- Terrible special effects. I understand the movie is low budget. But man, the CGI and make up for the zombies were terrible. We get CGI blood. There's a fiery explosion at the end that's supposed to destroy parts of a building. But right before it cuts, you can see the building has no damage done to it. The zombies look really fake, but better than the CGI used. It was pretty much SyFy quality, which is a shame. Appreciated the ambition though.

THE FINAL HOWL

I had low expectations for ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: REDEMPTION, and they were pretty much met. A lazy screenplay that's too focused on paying homage to better films from the past, pretty bad acting, and poor special effects bring this sequel down. However, the homages are amusing, the visual presentation is better than expected, and the synth soundtrack is sort of cool. Still, this low budget zombie-action film is below average and not worth anyone's time unless you really love zombies. The redemption I can take away from this viewing experience is that I will never have to watch this movie ever again.



SCORE

1.5 Howls Outta 4