It’s the emo 28 Days Later – Will
An outbreak, which turns its victims into violent psychopaths, leaves a man widowed and on the run. He finds a quiet girl living in a farmhouse and the two hide there together until another survivor appears.
Directed by – Kerry Anne Mullaney
Written by – Kris R. Bird, Kerry Anne Mullaney
Starring – Sandra Louise Douglas, Alton Milne, Sharon Osdin, Vivienne Harvey, John Erskine, Phylis Douglas, Robin Morris, Max Adair
Remember when zombies were slow things. Then they started making them fast while 28 Days Later blurred the lines between the living and the dead by making a psychological infection the reason for the zombie like people. Sometimes I wish 28 Days Later had never been made and then we wouldn’t be treated to crappy films like The Dead Outside.
Here we follow the formula of infected living people instead of dead people. I’m not really sure what they’re infected with or even how the hell it happened as the movie offers no reason or even opinion on the outbreak. It’s 6 months after the outbreak and Daniel (Alton Milne) is traveling around looking for shelter. He finds an abandoned farmhouse and spends the night. He wakes up to a shotgun in his face and realizes that the farmhouse belongs to April (Sandra Louise Douglas). April eventually agrees to let Daniel stay and the two begin a very strained friendship. Eventually another survivor comes along but winds up causing more trouble than expected.
Daniel enters what he thinks is an abandoned farmhouse.
The movie is more about Daniel and April instead of the outbreak. I imagine this has a lot to do with the low budget of the film. If you don’t have the cash to spend on big effects you stick to a thriller instead. The movie is such a freaking mess though. You don’t really learn anything about what is happening for quite a while and the characters all have these weird dreams of the past. The dreams are so quick and edited together in a way that you can’t figure out what the hell happened. The dreams make no sense because we don’t know the history of the characters. Daniel lost his wife and child to the disease but we don’t find that out right away so his dreams are confusing and distorted. Once you know what has happened to him they make more sense but they’re still and editing nightmare.
April’s history is even more confusing and is quickly explained when she wakes up from a bad dream and tells her story to Daniel. What happened to her when the outbreak hit would have been an interesting movie though. Too late for that now I guess! After a bit Kate (Sharon Osdin) shows up. April doesn’t want her there but Daniel convinces her to let Kate stay. Turns out that Kate is a nurse and was helping the infected in the early stages of the outbreak. Instead of offering any sort of idea of what happened she simply relates what we already know, that the infected are pissed off and very violent. Thanks Kate, your keen eye must have helped you out as a nurse!
April is constantly grumpy and sad and probably writes bad poetry.
The plot becomes more and more confusing and muddled as it moves along. It jumps from scene to scene without any form of connection and characters do things without any sort of motivation at all. None of it makes sense. Some of the shots in the film are out of focus for no reason at all and the movie is so dark that it can be hard to even tell what is happening. April is annoying and whiny the whole time with some severe mood swings. When first seeing Daniel in her home she holds him at gunpoint, tells him he can’t stay and has to leave in the morning. While he’s still at gunpoint and on his way upstairs she says ‘See ya tomorrow!’ like nothing happened. I think I’d take my chances outside at that point.
Overall the movie was really boring. Without really understanding the main story and the confusing dream/flashback sequences I just couldn’t get into the film. The dialogue between the characters is mundane and doesn’t really try to dig below the surface. There’s a few side plots concerning a vaccine and a possible cure but they aren’t really explored too much. The vaccine is brought up and then forgotten about 10 minutes later while the cure carries a bit more weight in the plot. There’s not enough violence to call it a horror movie and it’s just not interesting enough to call it a thriller. It’s not a terrible film but it’s completely forgettable and the sooner I forget, the better.
Under the marquee – Will
The Emo 28 Days Later? I DO NOT like the sound of that! A boring infection film with no violence?! NOT good. Thanks for the heads up…I’ll stay clear of this one!
I’m glad that my watching of horrible movies can save even one person the pain! HAHA!
Will, I completely agree with you. I read tons of reviews that went on and on about how well the film was shot and edited considering the budget. If you ask me, the editing was a complete mess, just confusing. The idea is good, and I like that they stood away from all the typical cliches, but it came out quite boring and confusing which is why i did not enjoy watching it.
Anyway, great review. Told it like it is
I’m sure you can always find good things to say about a movie but just because a movie is edited well or shot nicely doesn’t make it a good movie. I watched this, I thought it was boring and confusing and brought nothing new to the table.
I think people try to take it easy on indie flicks because of small budgets but some of the best movies I’ve ever seen had no budget and some of the biggest bombs cost all the money. Someone has to tell it like it is! HAHA!
I absolutely adored this movie. I’ve rarely seen a film that offers such a rich and engaging history, and I will definitely see this again soon.
Obviously I disagree with you on this one Jill but everybody has their favorites. I just didn’t think it offered anything I was interested in.
I have to say i really was not expecting much but (Denny puts hand over mouth and whispers quietly ) “I quite liked this film”. 3 out of 5
Don’t be shy Denny, shout your 3 out of 5 love for the movie to the world! HAHA! Some people like it, some people don’t. I can only offer my perspective on the film and hope that everyone can accept that it’s only one person’s opinion on the topic.
I agree this movie had a few good moments to really turn around and explain what happen,who this charactors are and really be a good thriller. Instead it was edited awfully and very hard to follow (I am indeed watching it now 02/14/11) I love low budget indie movies and films but some don’t or cann’t (because of such a low budget) get a person to invest themselves into the charactors in the story. I do think the story would’ve been a good on given better editing and money and as stated above the side plots themselves would’ve made interesting dreams or a whole prequel. The movie just ended and to be truthful I would like my time back along with my money for renting it. I do like to give Low budget movies and films a chance and some times find the indie scene 100 times better than anything Hollyweird can come up with,but if you are looking for a good movie with great acting and story with which to cuddle up with the person you want to have that horror/thriller movie squeeze when it gets interesting please stay away from The Dead Outside it isn’t worth renting or watching. But I will keep an open mind and if I see something else by the writer/director I’ll lay the cash down and give it a go. Just my take on the movie hope noone minds.