I’ve been obsessed with apocalyptic fiction since I was a small boy, but young Luiz was always frustrated with the disproportionate amount of media that takes place months or even years after the end of the world instead of showing us the apocalypse as it happens. It was only years later that I understood the logistical difficulties in telling a believable yarn about a near-instant societal collapse, though I never stopped wishing for more stories that take place in the moments between our current world and whatever wasteland comes next.
Thankfully, there are a few brave filmmakers willing to take on the challenge of depicting the early days of humanity’s downfall. And with Michael Sarnoski’s A Quiet Place: Day One (which is now available on Digital outlets at home) proving that audiences are still hungry for this specific kind of apocalyptic thrill, we’ve decided to come up with a list highlighting six other Day One Apocalypse Movies for your viewing pleasure.
For the sake of avoiding the same old apocalyptic recommendations, we’ll be omitting obvious recommendations like Romero’s Dead films (though that doesn’t mean the director will be absent from the list). With that out of the way, don’t forget to comment below with your own end-of-the-world favorites if you think we missed a particularly good one.
Now, onto the list…
6. 28 Weeks Later (2007)
28 Days Later is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I don’t think it comes as a surprise that I initially hated this action-packed sequel that lacked both Danny Boyle’s somber direction and Cillian Murphy’s compelling protagonist. However, revisiting the film years later with a couple of friends and zero expectations, I found myself enthralled by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s frenetic vision of a world collapsing right before our eyes.
While the first film merely hinted at the bloody chaos that ensued when the Rage Virus hit the streets of England, 28 Weeks Later traps audiences alongside our desperate protagonists as the infection once again takes hold in a thrilling follow-up with an unexpected mean streak. That opening sequence alone is worth the price of admission, and that’s why the film earns a place on this list.
5. Cell (2016)
I’ve already written about how I think this low-budget Stephen King adaptation is over-hated despite improving on several aspects of the source material, but I think it’s worth repeating that a movie being cheap doesn’t automatically make it bad. From the charismatic cast which reunites 1408 veterans John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson (not to mention Isabelle Fuhrmann before her Orphan: First Kill comeback) to the revised Twilight-Zone-inspired ending, there’s plenty to like about this cellular apocalypse if you can stomach the low production value.
Naturally, my favorite part of the experience is the fact that everything takes place during the immediate aftermath of the enigmatic “Pulse,” letting audiences follow survivors in real time as they struggle to reunite with their loved ones in a terrifying new world where long-distance communication has turned deadly.
4. Blindness (2008)
Portuguese author José Saramago is known for his deeply allegorical storytelling, and while this bleak tale about a sudden onset of viral blindness is inherently better suited to the written word, Fernando Meirelles’ film adaptation is still one hell of a chilling nightmare about a world on the edge of collapse.
Telling the story of a nameless woman (Julianne Moore) who discovers that she’s immune to the blinding disease that has afflicted most of the population, the film depicts just how far humanity can fall when removed from the safety nets of government and common decency. It’s not a particularly uplifting watch, but it sure is a fascinating one.
3. Threads (1984)
The darkest film on this list by a wide margin, Mick Jackson’s made-for-TV cautionary tale is widely considered to be the United Kingdom’s answer to ABC’s The Day After. However, Threads stands out precisely because it chooses to tell its story about a hypothetical nuclear conflict from the very beginning, allowing us to experience the horrors of World War III from the eyes of unsuspecting citizens as their daily lives are irreparably destroyed.
A grim and deeply unsettling parable about the shameful side of human nature, Threads certainly isn’t for the feint of heart, but it’s also a necessary production that should continue to inform world leaders about the far-reaching and often terrifying consequences of their actions.
2. Mulberry Street (2006)
Chronicling the interconnected stories of a group of Manhattanites who find themselves trapped in an apartment building once a rat-borne plague starts to transform citizens into man-eating mutants, Jim Mickle’s Mulberry Street is a must-watch for fans of street-level disaster flicks. Clearly inspired by post-9/11 paranoia, this underrated thriller dares to focus on the personal apocalypse that ensues when people are cut off from their loved ones during a crisis.
As if that wasn’t enough, the film is also a rare example of a horror flick where the low budget actually enhances the experience by making everything feel that much grimier and more believable. That’s why I’d recommend this underrated gem to genre fans willing to overlook janky practical effects and gritty lo-fi photography.
1. The Crazies (1973)
Honestly, both Romero’s original and the 2010 remake deserve to be on this list for different reasons, but I’ve opted to include the 1973 iteration of The Crazies due to its eerily prescient political elements – elements that hit much harder after surviving a real-world pandemic.
Following an ensemble of military personnel, scientists and survivors as they are forced to deal with a waterborne illness that turns its victims into murderous deviants (though not quite zombies, as the titular Crazies retain most of their mental faculties), the film doesn’t just place us right in the middle of the epidemic as it happens – it also shows how a government’s botched reaction to a crisis may very well lead to the end of life as we know it.
The post Six Day-One Apocalypse Movies to Watch After ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
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