2020, Johnny Martin (Delerium) -- Netflix
On Netflix you will find this listed as Pandemic, for no reason other than Alone must not sound enough like a zombie flick, and the word pandemic is serving double duty these days. Amusingly enough the thumb-nail on Netflix is for an entirely different movie called Pandemic from 2016.
Alone is meant to be a study in being alone when trapped by the zombie apocalypse going on outside. The idea was already visited somewhat in the French zombie movie, The Night Eats the World but this one does a rather decent job of it, especially when he discovers he is not so alone, and does his best to connect with other people. I also mentioned my own personal recurring dream related connection to this particular aspect of the genre when I wrote about that French movie.
Sexy, tattooed Aidan wakes up with sexy, nameless girl who soon after leaves. On the news weird things are happening and people are panicking: infection, cannibalism, avoid people, stay safe. Almost immediately after a neighbour barges through his door, Aidan demands to know WHY and then, just after convincing the guy to leave, he watches the guy change before his eyes, a bite on his back revealed. Rage Zombie! Aidan pushes the guy outside and blocks the door with his fridge.
If the French movie replaced the moans & groans with an eerie teeth chomping silence, this movie replaced it with the infected repeating the last thing that went through their head before the virus took it over. Imagine being chased by people continuously yelling, "Help me! Help me!" or "Kill me! Kill me!" Along with the usual roars and cries of rage, these utterances are utterly unnerving. Are the people still trapped inside there, a body controlled by a virus but the conscious brain still active. THAT is the real horror.
Aidan runs low on food, and patience. His family has died on voicemail and he is truly alone, for the first time in his life. As he is about to kill himself, he sees a woman in the apartment across the laneway. He had his windows covered up, to hide himself from alerting the zombies, and did not notice her in the 50 odd days. Till now. The rest of the movie is about Aidan desperate to connect with her, in a more personal human contact way, but also in an inevitable romantic way -- they are two young, beautiful people after all.
While the parallels between the French movie and this one abound, I was not adverse. As mentioned, my brain-pan seems focused on the idea once again, so I was happy to see another exploration of the idea. Also, I now get to watch the Korean version of this movie, based on the same script my Matt Naylor!
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