The Plague (2006) (V)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Hal Masonberg

Writers (WGA):

Hal Masonberg (written by) &
Teal Minton (written by)

Release Date:

24 October 2006 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Ten years have passed since the world's children have fallen into a coma. Tonight they're waking up and all hell is breaking loose. An un-holy battle between the generations is being waged against all adults, and time is not on their side.

Plot Keywords:

Coma | Children | Prison | Ex Wife | Fall Down Shaft

Cast

James Van Der Beek	...	Tom Russell
Ivana Milicevic	...	Jean Raynor
Brad Hunt	...	Sam Raynor
Joshua Close	...	Kip (as Josh Close)
John P. Connolly	...	Sheriff Cal Stewart (as John Connolly)
Dee Wallace	...	Nora
Brittany Scobie	...	Claire
Bradley Sawatzky	...	deputy Nathan Burgandy
Jon Ted Wynne	...	Dr. Jenkins
Arne MacPherson	...	David
Gene Pyrz	...	Jim
Genevieve Pelletier	...	Nurse Daniels
Chad Panting	...	Eric Russell
David Stuart Evans	...	Intern (as David Evans)
Jan Skene	...	Nurse Hansen

Also Known As:

Clive Barker's The Plague (Australia) (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence/gore and language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Armada Pictures

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the four are standing at the bridge and the woman fires a final round into the "zombie" on the ground, there is clearly another person standing behind the couple by the truck when there shouldn't be anybody.

Movie Connections:

References The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Restrained but still fun

First off, its quite easy to tell that author Clive Barker didn't have a lot to do with this film. There are few of the trademarks that one expects from a Barker tale here. Obviously this was meant solely to be a production that he could get off the ground quickly and without trouble to start off his Midnight Picture Show company.

The story follows a mysterious plague that causes all the children of the world under the age of 9 to fall into a coma. Skip ahead 10 years and the children have begun to awaken. The only problem is they have a strong desire to kill any and all adults.

There are some great twists in here. After 10 years in a coma, one's muscles would be jello, so the authors have given the children seizures twice a day every day to keep the muscles in active condition and allow them to grow and become strong. The first thought one might have is of the standard zombie film scenario: survivors hole up as hordes outside hunt them and kill them. Indeed, there is some truth to this. The difference is that the kids don't want to eat the adults, just kill them and send them into the afterlife. A lot of this is never fully explained much like the reasons for the zombies in Night Of The Living Dead. There are some reasons suggested but no concrete evidence given.

What brought the film down was its ultra low budget. The film looked cheap. The less than stellar acting also caused the film a heavy hit in my opinion. Lots of people have criticized James Van Der Beek for his performance but I'd have to say that the blame lies fully on the entire cast. No one here delivers a decent performance.

All in all, its worth a look, but it will hardly set the world on fire.