In the 1960s and ’70s, photographer Arthur Tress interviewed children about their dreams and then recreated their nightmares as photos. See more of them here.
THE BIRD BOX By Josh Malerman
THE BIRD BOX by Josh Malerman tells the story of a mother who must get her two children to sanctuary down a river while blindfolded. Because there are creatures out there, and to see them is to become violently insane … Concurrently, the book tells the story of what happened in the house where she hid with other survivors.
This was an interesting read. Malerman, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at the World Horror Convention, writes with sparse, simple prose that had me turning pages. This apocalyptic story is compelling because you want to learn more about the creatures and, of course, what happens during the journey and to the survivors at the house.
Based on the Amazon reviews, readers are responding to the book in a big way, though they may find some oddities in the plot. For example, a string of murder-suicides leads to a rumor they saw something, but how could anybody know that? Suddenly, strangely, people everywhere are boarding up their houses and walking around with their eyes closed. There’s a hint at what people are actually seeing–and it’s cool and Lovecraftian–but again, how could anybody know that? You just have to go with it. The woman’s children, whom she strangely calls Boy and Girl, don’t seem to have personalities. The ending wraps things up but not quite with a bang.
Despite these reactions from this reader, I greatly enjoyed the story and read it in just a few nights. The story grabs you and is compelling, it’s original, and the prose tight. It’s an impressive debut novel from Malerman, and I’ll be reading his stuff in the future.
.
.
THESE FINAL HOURS
New trailer for the Australian apocalyptic film THESE FINAL HOURS. The world will come to an end in nine hours, and a young man is headed to a massive party when he comes across a young girl trying to find her father. I heard it will be available in the U.S. in the near future. Definitely one to watch. It looks powerful.
Top 10 Apocalyptic Short Film List: Honorable Mentions
If you enjoyed my top 10 list of apocalyptic short films yesterday, here are 10 honorable mentions:
Honorable Mentions:
JUNK HEAD
JUNKHEAD is an animated film short that tells the story of a world divided between the last remaining humans, who live above ground, and the degenerate clones who live underground, evolving into their own strange ecology. The last humans need genetic information from these creatures in order to survive, so they send an explorer into the depths …
LOVE OF THE DEAD
In short zombie film LOVE OF THE DEAD, a man will do anything for the person he loves.
DELIVER ME TO HELL
Entertaining, pretty well made interactive zombie apocalypse video. Help Steve get across the city to deliver his pizza without being killed by the zombies. What happens depends entirely on your choices as the viewer. Also be sure to check out THE OUTBREAK, another zombie choose-your-own-adventure.
ZOMBIE MOVIE
In ZOMBIE MOVIE, three head bangers end up stranded in a car, with zero gas, and surrounded by zombies.
Part 1:
Part 2:
ANTIBODY
In ANTIBODY, scientists struggle to find a cure while a horrifying zombie plague devastates the human race. After being bitten, a woman wakes to find herself infected and in a cage–and, possibly, our only hope for a cure. But time is running out …
Antibody (2008) from Nathan Bezner on Vimeo.
THE SKIN OF YOUR TEETH
THE SKIN OF YOUR TEETH tells the story of two farmers trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. They are joined by two friends from the city, who describe the horrifying Collapse. The zombies begin showing up in greater numbers as they migrate out of the cities, until one day …
PANIC ATTACK
PANIC ATTACK, a short film about giant robots invading Montevideo.
SKYFALL
Beautiful, tragic, haunting.
TRUE LOVE BLOOMS ON ROTTING HILL
In TRUE LOVE BLOOMS ON ROTTING HILL, two zombies find themselves devouring opposite ends of the same length of intestine, and fall in love.
APOCALYPSE SPECIAL
The final battle between Good and Evil begins over lunch. Very funny.
Did I miss anything? What’s your favorite?
.
.
My Top 10 List of Apocalyptic Short Films
If you like apocalyptic short films, you came to the right place. Here’s a top 10 list of the best apocalyptic short films.
ZOMBIE IN A PENGUIN SUIT
This amazing zombie short begins with some poor slob who works at the zoo handing out flyers in a penguin costume, who then becomes bitten by a zombie during an outbreak event. We see his journey from confusion to hunger, with his survival hanging by a thread as those who would destroy him through the dictates of fortune become destroyed themselves, and ultimately decomposition. The penguin costume isn’t funny so much as pathetic, making him stand out against the faceless zombie hordes as an individual, somebody we cannot forget was once a real person. The story is told beautifully and with pathos.
ONCE WAS PARADISE
Terrific short film about the brutality of life after peak oil, set in a post-apocalyptic Hawaii.
SPOILER
In SPOILER, the zombie apocalypse already happened, and humanity won. But the threat of contagion is always present, resulting in periodic infection being detected and responded to with lockdowns of all buildings in the area, which must be cleared one by one. In Los Angeles, coroner Tommy Rossman is the guy they call when things go wrong. His job is to declare people exposed to infection dead, whether they are alive or not, so they can be destroyed. He’s an average guy doing a horrible job on a bad night.
Spoiler from spoiler movie on Vimeo.
PERISHED
In PERISHED, an Australian zombie short, a man struggles to survive alone while the world around him dies. Can he escape? Awesome stuff. Powerful and realistic. You really start rooting for the guy.
EXPLOSIONS
EXPLOSIONS, a short apocalyptic film, imagines a world in which Earth loses its gravity.
I LOVE SARAH JANE
Fantastic short film about Australia slowly falling to a zombie plague, and how love soldiers on in the face of adversity.
APOCALYPSE
The best short films often present a simple idea, brilliantly executed. In APOCALYPSE, a strange plague threatens to end the world … I can’t say anything more without ruining it …
CARGO
In CARGO, a short zombie film, a man awakes after a car crash realizing he’s infected–and that he must now get his baby to safety before he turns into a zombie himself. As a dad, it really got me, and I hope you enjoy it too.
REPLAY
Fantastic animated short film about a mother trying to keep her little boy alive during the apocalypse. Lonely, he seeks friendship with the ghosts of the past.
FACILITY 4
Really brilliant little short, spoken entirely in Russian-with English subtitles–about two Russian soldiers assigned to an underground bioweapons research bunker, normally a boring post–that is, until something goes wrong …
ELYSIUM (2013)
I finally had the chance to catch ELYSIUM (2013) and thought it was top-notch sci-fi. The film tells the story of a man (Matt Damon) who lives on an overcrowded, polluted Earth. After taking a lethal dose of radiation at the factory where he works, he determines to somehow get to Elysium–an orbiting space station where the rich and powerful live in luxury.
With films like ELYSIUM and THE TRAIN, class warfare is popular in sci-fi these days. One could even argue that Romero’s LAND OF THE DEAD is about class. It’s a great theme for sci-fi, and let’s face it, these days, with rampant income inequality in the United States, it resonates. That’s what separates great sci-fi from the usual thriller with technology–big, challenging ideas. The film is actually quite subversive, describing the consequences of no worker regulations or rights, no access to decent healthcare, police brutality and so on.
The big question is whether opening the resources of Elysium to the people of Earth would really make a difference–whether Earth’s population would really be that much better off after absorbing Elysium‘s resources–or whether there would be some other lasting solution. In the film, the moral issue comes first.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 139
- 140
- 141
- 142
- 143
- …
- 147
- Next Page »