A fan of Virus Outbreak movies? Check these
8 films out
Always remember that whenever you end up catching
a cold, there are
plenty of things you can contract that are
far far worse. Especially if you
live within a horror movie. So today I thought
I'd cover films which plots
that revolve around viral outbreaks.
Where an outbreak is a sudden occurrence of
a disease within a particular
place and time frame. In which it can affect
a small town or an entire
continent.
Within the movie universe it's usually super
lethal & highly contagious, or it
just turns you into some form of zombie, so
for the sake of simplicity- I'm
going to focus on a mix of both types.. But
I'm saving most of the zombie
ones for another video.
Director Wolfgang Petersen's Action Drama,
Outbreak 1995
Follows Virologist Col Sam Daniels' whose
job within the military is to
investigate nasty diseases. When a deadly
airborne virus finds its way into
a small town within the USA, it rapidly starts
killing off the local
population. where it's now up to Col Daniels
and his team, to try and
control this viral outbreak.
The reason why most millennia's are afraid
of monkeys, Outbreak is a
cheesy film with an all-star cast filled with
all the stereotypes and clich�s
you would expect from a 90's movie.
This film will definitely require your suspension
of disbelief at times, with
its unnecessary yet fun action scenes and
unintentionally funny parts. But
overall outbreak is a good popcorn movie,
that should entertain and hold
your attention throughout.
Directors Balagureo & Plaza's, Mystery Horror,
[Rec] 2007
Set in Barcelona, where a television reporter
and her cameraman are
following a local fire crew for their Tv Show.
Whilst filming the fire-fighters
they receive a distress call from a local
apartment building. When they
arrive everything seems normal, until they
go inside.
Shot as found footage, and absolutely terrifying-
[REC] is a Spanish horror
that is done exceptionally well. and as I'm
personally not a fan of this sub-
genre it came as quite a surprise how much
I liked it.
While I wouldn't say that it adds anything
new, that doesn't take away from
the fact that this film is a solid benchmark
for what found footage
movies�should attempt to achieve. If you're
a fan of the Blair Witch Project
or Cloverfield then give [Rec] a go.
Director Breck Eisner's, Horror Thriller,
The Crazies 2010
Set in a small Iowa town where everything
is pretty normal. Until one day a
man burns down his own house, while another
walks onto a school baseball
game with a loaded shotgun. With all these
crazy events happening, it
doesn't take the Sherriff long to figure out
that something is definitely
affecting the people in his town.
Well shot with plenty of jumps scares and
gore, The Crazies is a pretty
good remake with solid acting and a surprisingly
engaging story. While I
wouldn't say it's particularly scary, I'd
say the movies strength lies with
how unsettling it is, where it makes you feel
tense for the whole of the
third act. Technically it's not a true zombie
movie, but it does have an
original twist on the survival horror genre,
that's fairly unique.
Director, Bruce McDonald's, Fantasy Horror,
Pontypool 2008
Follows�radio announcer�Grant Mazzy, who
has a new job in the small town
of Pontypool. Whilst listening to their reporter
describing a rather strange
sounding riot, the call gets abruptly cut
off. When the reporter calls back,
Grant & his team, become aware that something
horrible is occurring just a
few miles away from them.
An intelligent horror that delivers more,
than the usual cheap jump scares
Pontypool is a tension filled movie clearly
inspired by Orson Wells' the war
of the worlds. It's supported by top notch
acting, combined with some of
the best suspense I've ever experienced within
film.
Pontypool is completely different to your
standard virus outbreak movies,
mainly due to it taking place entirely within
a radio station- where it's
completely down to your imagination to fuel
the fear.
Director, David Cronenberg's, Horror sci-fi,
Shivers 1975
Set in a luxury apartment building, where
there appears to be a bizarre
murder-suicide, in which a misguided biology
researcher kills his mistress to
assure funding for his project. But when the
residents of the building start
getting sexually assaulted by their fellow
tenants, it becomes clear there
was something more to that suicide.
Where this is more of a parasite based movie,
than a straight forward virus
film, Shivers actually has a pretty disturbing
premise, where nobody really
wants to be sexually violated in order to
pass on a parasite!
While the picture and sound quality are fairly
poor, and the acting n effects
are OK it won't matter if you're a fan of
low budget horror or David
Cronenberg. But if you're expecting more,
then it might disappoint you.
Director Sung-su Kim's, Drama Thriller, Flu
2013
After smuggling illegal immigrants into South
Korea, a smuggler catches an
unknown virus from one of their prisoners.
Soon after, the same symptoms
start to plague the residents within the suburbs
of the city of Seoul.�Where
this new kind of deadly disease can kill a
person within 36 hours.
An impressive disaster movie with a rather
tense premise, Flu�really
delivers on suspense and action, with characters
that are very engaging.
But it does have some tonal issues in regards
to a few over-sentimental
scenes. But Despite its flaws and it's over
the top moments, Flu is a pretty
entertaining film. It's just a pity that if
the story had stuck to a darker tone
this could have been a very powerful movie.
Director Fernando Meirelles, Mystery sci-fi,
Blindness 2008
Where a city is devastated by a mysterious
epidemic of instant white
blindness. Among the first infected is an
ophthalmologist and his wife who
become quarantined by the government. Sent
to an abandoned mental
asylum, and without any medical supplies or
visual aide, hundreds of
infected are left to their own means to survive.
With an awesome cast, solid cinematography,
and great direction Blindness
is a gritty film which has a very different
take on the outbreak genre.
While some people will see this as letdown
in comparison to the novel it's
based on. I think it succeeds at what it tries
to accomplish; demonstrating
the human experience under terrible circumstances.
Blindness is a tough film to watch, and definitely
not for everyone, but if
you're curious- then give it a try.
Director Danny Boyle's, Sci-fi Horror, 28
days later 2002
Follows Jim, who wakes up from a short term
coma to see that the world
has drastically changed. London has become
like something from a post
apocalyptic movie and no-one can be found.
Unknown to Jim there are
plenty of people about, it's just that they've
all become blood-crazed
psychopaths.
The low budget instant classic that redefined
the zombie genre,�28 Days
later has loads of horror & terror with just
about the right amount of
realism. The characters are well developed,
the plot is straight forward and
haunting and the pacing is tight. 28 days
later, is very thought-provoking,
with a focus on survival and what it means
to be human.�I honestly don't
really have anything bad to say about this
movie, so if you haven't seen it
yet, check it out.
A fan of Virus Outbreak movies? Check these
8 films out
