The Colony (2013)
Through a mixture of pollution and attempted weather control, the human race has caused another ice age. What remains of the population lives in colonies established in underground bunkers. Life is harsh but the real danger is getting sick and being exiled (or shot) to protect the rest.
When colony 7 loses contact with colony 5, three of the men set out across the snowy wasteland to find out what happened. What they find is blood, blood and feral cannibals. They also find that one of the other colonies has managed to repair a weather machine, thawing out the surrounding area. The race is on to get back to 7 and take the survivors to a better life, while being pursued by the violent cannibals.
So yes, I’ve basically ruined the whole plot for you – you’re not missing too much. The ice age world is well done, and despite being obviously a B movie there’s some star power here in the form of Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton. The cannibals were a bit of a let down to be honest, they’re more animal than man and honestly it felt like they could have instead sold some kind of creatures instead – it felt like that’s what the film was being set up for. You can do worse with your time, you can also do better.
Antisocial (2013)
While celebrating the new year, five friends end up trapped in their house as a viral outbreak sweeps the world turning people into crazed killers. So yes, a zombie film.
There are some decent performances in here and it’s pretty well filmed, but the premise for the cause of the outbreak is … ridiculous. Even by my standards which largely don’t exist, it was cringeworthy. If you can look past that, there’s an underlying message about social media turning people into always-connected zombies and some clever ideas near the end which are handled just about well enough to work.
Again, you can do worse with your time but you won’t lose sleep if you never see it.
Bounty Killer (2013)
Now we’re talking! In the future corporate infighting has developed into corporate wars, leaving the world a post apocalyptic warzone in true Mad Max style. White collar workers are now targets for crimes against humanity, hunted by the superstar Bounty Killers including Mary Death and Drifter, and everything is going well until a bounty is placed on Drifters head.
This is pure exploitation trash of the best kind. It’s violent, it’s graphic, it’s funny, the leading lady wears something a bit like a waitress outfit, stagecoaches are trailers pulled by motorbikes, ‘gypsies’ look like a pack of crazed Juggalos. It’s got great pace too, look away for a moment and you’ll miss something which makes a nice change from many recent films which just lose their way and meander between set pieces.
There’s no lead-up or acclimatisation for this film – you’re thrown right in the deep end. Just sit down and enjoy the ride, this is one of the better ways you can spend 90 minutes. It’s right up there with Hobo With A Shotgun and Doomsday.
