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DVD The Collapsed
 Run time: 82 min Rating: 3.7 Genres: Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi Director: Justin McConnell Writers: Kevin Hutchinson, Justin McConnell Stars: John Fantasia, Steve Vieira, Anna Ross |
| Storyline In the wake of the end of the world, a family of four desperately tries to survive against insurmountable odds. Their goal: escaping the city and traveling to the rural community they once called home, Dover’s Bend. The constant threat of a violent death forcing them to stay as far away from civilization as possible, they take to the forest, soon to discover the danger posed by other survivors may be the least of their worries. Written by Unstable Ground |
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| Plot Keywords: end of the world, pestilence, wasteland, hope, virus | |
| Details: Country: Canada Release Date: 11 June 2012 (UK) |
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| Box Office Budget: $150,000 (estimated) |
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4 comments
Probably going to polarize critics and viewers, since I'm not sure that I have seen a flick with this kind of pacing and structure before. I'll admit now that I've known about this for a while, since I caught the director's last film (a documentary called WORKING CLASS ROCK STAR) a few years ago and check in from time to time.. was curious what he'd do with a narrative.
While the film is far from perfect, it's a good time and enjoyable. The camera-work and score are top notch, the lead is very good, and the rest of the cast does a serviceable job considering the budget. Most of all, I really liked the different take on the end of the world… I'm not so sure I fully understand what "it" was, but I definitely get what "it" does, so by the end it's clear what has happened. By the end, it all makes sense.
I've read a bunch of reviews online, and they seem split. Some really like it, some outright hate it… I'd have to say judge for yourself. It's a good movie if you're open-minded and don't go in expecting THE ROAD or something like that (considering this was made for a fraction of that flick's catering budget). I really liked the atmosphere most of all… some really great tense moments brought up because of it.
Check it out – you probably won't be disappointed.
In the wake of the end of the world, a family of four desperately tries to survive. Taking to the forest, they soon discover the other survivors may be the least of their worries.
My first question is, do we need another post-apocalyptic movie? For the most part, no. The genre has been done to death and very few actually excel. (The same could be said for zombie films.) Want to see a good post-apocalyptic film? Check out "Dead Weight".
If this film excels at anything, it is stretching a budget. The film could reasonably have been made for a very, very low sum. There are practically no special effects, no big-name actors and all outdoor settings. I suspect the equipment would be the most expensive part, and McConnell probably had some or most of that from previous films.
Where it falls short is dialogue delivery. Some of the lines are bad, but they are compounded by the poor delivery. It just does not seem to come out as very natural. In all fairness, the father and son interact rather well. It is the daughter and especially the mother who fall flat. I am a bit confused why the father has an accent and no one else does, but that is not unheard of.
Should you see this film? Probably not. It is not terrible, but is not really all that great, either. The best part is probably the soundtrack. Watch it to learn how to make low-budget film, if you wish, but as for entertainment — it provides very little.
No it's not a Hollywood budget apocalypse film… but I started watching expecting to scan through and turn it off and return to my work in my home office and ended up leaning back and taking it all in. I thought it was great. There was the odd awkward line or scene that i think could have benefited from some visual fx, but with the tiny budget this film had I think they did phenomenal! I think the film was well written and didn't have an overload of dialogue that I have seen in many independent films. Visually the film looks great… shots are nice, I see too many that are way too wide or too tight when they should be wide. The shots captured the emotion and feeling of the scenes effectively. The cast did a great job and Peter was straight Gangster! Lastly I want to see what Justin could do with a multi-million dollar budget… somebody in Tinseltown get on the phone with him!
*Spoilers are very mild* Low budget Candian film (IMDB says $150,000. If that's Canadian dollars, that works out at about five shillings) that follows a family as they amble through a seemingly limitless countryside, trying to find somewhere safe after an unspecified apocalyptic event.
The slow reveal as to the nature of the event is where the film eventually concludes, in a somewhat less than cheery fashion.
It's well shot, well acted and well paced. The only flaw, and I'm willing to forgive it considering the budget, is the free-form sounding, trumpet-heavy soundtrack. Although I might just dislike trumpets.
I've decided, yup, trumpets are definitely bastards. So you should seek this out and give it a go. It's good.
8.5/10 Originally at: http://filmplop.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/160512-collapsed-2011.html