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The Collasped
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The Horror Zine Review

The Collapsed

A Film by Justin McConnell

Director: Justin McConnell
Actors: John Fantasia, Steve Vieria, Anna Ross
Studio: Unstable Ground
Format: DVD
Language: English
Release Date: May 2011
Run Time: 82 minutes
ASIN: n/a

The Collasped

The Collasped Still

The Collasped Still

The Collapsed

A Film by Justin McConnell

Review by Christian A. Larsen

There are two prevailing opinions of post-apocalyptic stories. The first is that they are part of a tired, played-out meme, and the second is that they are well-established genre pieces tracing their lineage back to Mary Shelly's 1826 novel, The Last Man.  Neither opinion is wrong any more than it's right. It all depends on the quality of a given work—and that's just what you get with Justin McConnell's The Collapsed. Quality. Shocking, fearful quality.

A week removed from the utter and unexplained collapse of civilization, Scott Weaver (John Fantasia) leads his wife, son and daughter through the wreckage of the urban center they called home. His hope is to lead them to Dover's Bend, where his now (mostly) grown children spent their formative years, and where it is presumably safer. Their primary fear along the way is other survivors, scavenging on the bones of what used to be civilization, taking whatever they can, and their salvation comes in the form of an abandoned but operable car, which takes them out into the country.

While they are scavenging for food and supplies during a fuel stop, Scott sees gunmen investigating his car. He leads his family through the back door to the relative safety of the woods, but soon regrets leaving behind the much-needed supplies they will need now that they have to hike to Dover's Bend. So he and his son, Aaron (Steve Vieria), scurry back to the gas station, and set the events of the rest of the movie in motion. I can't say any more without spoiling the rest, but it's well worth the 82 minute investment and follows one of the key tenets of show business: always leave them wanting more.

Fantasia is clearly the star of this movie as the father trying to protect his family at all costs. His range and gravitas are clearly a notch or two above the standard delivery in a film of this kind coming out of Hollywood. Maybe range isn't the best word. Depth is more like it, because he really only emotes three ways: anger, fear, and sadness. But it's what he does with those emotions, and where he is mining them, that draws the viewer into the story and that acts as a proxy for us as well.

Lisa Moule portrays an effective Emily Weaver, the tired, scared, and frustrated mother who is in many ways the most clear-headed of the bunch. However, it is Vieria as Aaron who is the heart of the family, often clashing with the cold logic of his father. Their conflict throughout the movie underscores the conflict they face together, amplifying the tension. Anna Ross has comparatively little screen time as Rebecca, but she capitalizes on what time she does have, portraying a bleak teen who is grieving the life she lost without—and this is important—without whining. It takes an actress with remarkable restraint to pull it off, and Ross certainly does.

Without a big budget to throw at an effects department, McConnell still treats the viewer to a gritty, grim horror movie, using simple tricks like desaturating the color for a stark, cold abandoned feel and enhancing the mood with a dramatic, orchestral score by Rob Kleiner, whose theme alone is enough to bring out terror-filled rills of gooseflesh. Combine the music with McConnell's chilling tale, which eschews gallons of blood and 'gotcha' moments for crafting a story that envelopes the viewer, and you have a horrifying treat that recalls the masterpieces of its post-apocalyptic literary predecessors: I Am Legend, The Road, On the Beach, The Stand, 28 Days Later, all wildly different interpretations of how civilization dies, but all gut-punchingly good, as is The Collapsed.

McConnell is an extremely effective story-teller and movie-maker, creating a film on a shoestring, independent budget that feels like a Hollywood blockbuster. No, you won't see fantastically choreographed car chases or overdubbed explosions that practically singe your eyebrows, but you will feel like McConnell has transported you to a grim, near future, populated with enemies that we are perhaps living with at this very moment, though this reviewer fervently hopes that they are simply the product of McConnell's active imagination.

In the end, you have to see for yourself where Scott Weaver made the right decisions, or where he might have gone wrong, but it will take an astute viewer to accurately gauge his choices before the reveal at the end. Do yourself a favor, though, and see The Collapsed, even if you are simply along for the ride. Because what a ride it is.

 

See the movie here:

http://www.thecollapsed.com/

About the Filmmaker

Justin McConnell

Justin McConnell

For over ten years, Justin McConnell has run his media production and development company, Unstable Ground, Inc., out of Toronto, Ontario.

As a Swiss army‐knife production solution, Justin is a highly experienced writer/director, editor, compositor/broadcast designer, camera operator and producer.

Justin splits his time between three faces of his company – as a producer/director of feature films and home entertainment (The Collapsed, Working Class Rock Star, Skull World, The Eternal), in providing a growing list of high profile clients with every production solution available (Anchor Bay Entertainment, Universal, Warner, Rhino Records, Mindpress), and as a producer of recorded live entertainment, DVDs and music videos (Oceano, Kataklysm, Necrophagist, Dog Fashion Disco, etc.).

With over eight years of intensive camera operation experience, Justin has been involved in productions on four continents (with shoots in Russia, China, Australia and North America), and has a dynamic “do anything to get the shot” attitude. His high energy style, technical knowledge and keen eye for the cinematic lend a heightened production value to everything he works on.

With a flexible and intuitive attitude toward all his work, Justin has built a reputation for delivering high quality production/post to fit any schedule, and the experience and available crew to meet any demand.

About the Reviewer

Christian A. Larsen

Christian A. Larsen

Christian A. Larsen grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has worked as a high school English teacher, a radio personality, a newspaper reporter, and a printer's devil. His work has appeared in magazines such as Golden Visions, Lightning Flash, An Electric Tragedy, Eschatology, Indigo Rising, and Aphelion. He lives with his wife and two sons in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Visit him online at www.exlibrislarsen.com and follow him on Twitter @exlibrislarsen.