Thursday, October 27, 2016

Thursday Movie Picks: Epidemic/Pandemic/Outbreak



I've been working with kids for several years now. Helping mold young minds gives me great joy. There's nothing quite like seeing a child "get it" when you're teaching them something. Like with anything else, however, there is a downside. It seems like once a month, bunches of them will be sick at the same time. Not sick enough to stay home, mind you, at least according to their parents. They're just sick enough where they are all sniffling, sneezing, and coughing. And they're touching things. Occasionally, they're touching each other. Sometimes, without warning or permission, they touch you. Sure, you load up on vitamin C, and lather yourself in hand sanitizer every chance you get, but the inevitable happens. Whatever bug is biting them, bites you. When it does, you raid the local pharmacy for your drug of choice and move on. Eventually, you get better...until it happens again. But, what if you never got better? What if no one ever got better? That's pretty much the premise behind the topic for this week's Thursday Movie Picks. We're talking movies about epidemics, pandemics, and/or outbreaks.

Oh, to answer the question about what happens if no one ever gets better, we end up here:

The Last Man on Earth (1964)
The Omega Man (1971)
I Am Legend (2007)
Here is where it seems all of humanity has killed each other off as a result of a plague that turns people into vampire-like creatures, save for one man, Robert Neville (Heston in The Omega Man, Will Smith in I Am Legend). For some strange reason, it's Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) in The Last Man on Earth. Anyhoo, we meet him long after the plague has done its damage and he's been living a solitary life and trying to avoid the freaks that come out at night. He's also working on a cure. All three movies are based on the same novel, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. I've read the book, watched all three movies, and wrote a post comparing and contrasting all of it. Check it out here. Before an epidemic gets that far, it has to start somewhere, right?

Cabin Fever
(2002)
Maybe, it could start here. We hang out with some college kids who have taken weekend refuge at a cabin in the woods for a little fun in the sun. It's a typical slasher flick set up, but there is a twist. One of the local yokels has contracted, and now passing around, a flesh-eating virus. Let's just say things get pretty nasty. Surprisingly, things are morbidly funny, too. Funniest, and most disturbing of all is the film's final scene. No, I haven't seen the 2016 remake. I won't go into the hows and whys of a remake of a movie younger than all my kids other than to say Eli Roth. Anyhoo, between the beginning of an epidemic and the end, it spreads.


Contagion
(2011)
And man, does it spread in this movie. In this case, Elizabeth (Gwyneth Paltrow) appears to be victim number one of a highly contagious virus that causes people to die shortly after contracting it. The CDC swoops into action as the death toll skyrockets and we watch the whole world fall apart. There are no jump scares, no ghosts, no ravenous undead, no masked psychos, nor nihilistic aliens. That's precisely why it's so damn scary. Click here for my full review.


22 comments:

  1. I've seen I Am Legend of those three films and... it's OK. Not the so-called "One of the greatest films ever made" claimed by that ass-wipe Ben Lyons. Remember that motherfucker?

    Cabin Fever as I've thought about it is quite underrated as it doesn't follow a lot of the conventional elements of horror but it is still quite scary and intense. I'm starting to warm up to it. Contagion is definitely the odd film of the bunch as it's not a horror film by traditional means but it is still quite chilling.

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    1. Not familiar with Lyons, but no, I Am Legend is not one of the greatest anything. I do like it, though.

      Totally agree with your assessment of those two.

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  2. I also chose Cabin Fever, I love that movie. I haven't seen the first two films based on I Am Legend, but the actual Will Smith movie let me down so much. The ending in the graphic novel was better. Contagion was an okay movie. I only saw it once.

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    1. Glad to see Cabin Fever get some love. They did botch the ending on I Am Legend, but I still liked the movie overall. Contagion disturbed me to no end.

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  3. I had heard many negative things about I Am Legend when it was out so I've never watched that version but I have seen the Price & Chuckles ones. I preferred Last Man to Omega but both had their entertaining points.

    Contagion was the first one I thought of but it being of recent vintage I assumed it would be popular today so I moved on. I liked it well enough, and was glad that the Goop girl bite the dust early, but it was missing something that would have made it more compelling. Damon was good but I thought Kate Winslet was the standout performer.

    I haven't seen Cabin Fever and from that picture I don't think I will be!

    I pulled my list together a while ago and never connected it with horror at the time so mine this week veer away from the horror of sci-fi and lean towards the actual effects of an epidemic.

    Longtime Companion (1989)-The AIDS epidemic is viewed through the prism of its impact on a small group of friends. We begin with young Willy (Campbell Scott), his best friend John (Dermot Mulroney) and a few others going about their day both in Manhattan and Fire Island during the summer of 1981 as one of them, Lisa (Mary Louise Parker) notices a small article in The New York Times mentioning a new disease at first called "GRID: Gay-Related-Immune-Disorder". As time passes and the government remains indifferent to the disease’s spread the group is slowly decimated by the disease. At times searingly sad but also balanced with humor and beautifully acted. Bruce Davison was deservedly nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

    Panic in the Streets (1950)-When called in to do a routine autopsy on an unknown gunshot victim in New Orleans Dr. Clint Reed (Richard Widmark) discovers he also has signs of the infectious pneumonic plague. He alerts the authorities who at first are skeptical but when he explains they have only 48 hours to locate anyone he came into contact with to prevent a pandemic the chief of police (Paul Douglas) goes into action. Meanwhile the dead man’s killer (Jack Palance) and associates begin to fall victim to the disease. Probably the only film noir pandemic movie you’ll ever find.

    Outbreak (1995)-A deadly contagion breaks out in a California town and once alerted a group of scientists realize that it could spread through the rest of the country in a matter of days. But as the military quarantine tightens, the head scientist (Dustin Hoffman) begins to suspect that there’s more than the outbreak to worry about, and that he himself might be in danger for knowing it.

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    1. The book on I Am Legend is really good setup, bad pay off. The question is how much will that ruin it for you? I like it better than Omega Man, not quite as much as Last Man.

      Winslet was definitely the standout performer in Contagion.

      No, Cabin Fever is not for you.

      Haven't seen any of your picks. Not sure how, but I haven't even heard of Longtime Companion. It sounds really interesting. Outbreak is one I've been meaning to see since the day it came out. How sad is it I still haven't gotten to it?

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  4. I can't believe I didn't think of the "I Am Legend" triptych. That's a good one, each of the films are different and good in their own way. Ditto Cabin Fever, which is REALLY good.

    I think Contagion is going to be the pick of the week, and I am totally fine with that.

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  5. Of these, I've seen only the three variations of I am Legend. In fact, I just rewatched the last one and was as disappointed with the third act this time as I was with it the first time. It's a great set-up that goes somewhere disappointing in my opinion, but that's just my opinion.

    12 Monkeys is at least partially an outbreak film, and one that I genuinely love. 28 Days Later is the king of the disease outbreak genre for me, though, since it lives in my top-5 all time. Contagion...I really need to watch Contagion.

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    1. Most people who don't like I Am Legend blame it on the third act. It is indeed the weakest part of the film, but I still like it.

      12 Monkeys is a great movie. Have to be honest, though, I'm not big on 28 Days Later. I might give it another shot one of these days. Yes, watch Contagion.

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  6. I like I am Legend, enjoyed the film very much. Haven't seen Cabin Fever but that's because I never really warmed to Eli Roth as a filmmaker.

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    1. To be honest, Roth kinda sucks. Cabin Fever is by the best thing he's done, at least of what I've seen.

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  7. I have not seen Contagion yet and it was popular this week along with 28 Days. I have seen I am Legend which is just very sad and didn't like that the dog bites the dust...hated that. I still have to see Omega Man and the Vincent Price film. I'll pass on Cabin Fever

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    1. Contagion is really good...and really unsettling. For my money, The Vincent Price version is the best of the three, but not by much over I Am Legend.

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  8. My my Contagion is popular today. Never thought I'd ever say that. Great picks! Too disgusted by Cabin Fever rotting flesh it's not for me. Or anyone but you know what I mean.

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  9. I haven't seen any of these but Contagion sounds great. I'll definitely check it out.

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  10. Hi again Dell, been awhile! I've watched an alarmingly small amount of the horror films you've been covering this month. Although I did catch The Last Man on Earth (1964) in October, which I had mixed feelings about. I liked the acting and the unsettling atmosphere, but I felt the middle section about the family was anticlimactic and maybe instead should have been the first part of the film?(I suspect the book is the same way).

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    1. Hey, Chris! Glad to see you hanging out a bit. Yes, the book is the same. Everything dealing with his family is done in flashback. This strategy runs through all three films, actually. For me, the idea is for us to get to know this man after he's already lost everything and become something of a hardened survivor while the flashbacks reveal he is still human and wanting of human companionship.

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  11. Great choices! I haven't seen The Last Man on Earth, but I really liked I Am Legend (with the alternate ending they didn't use). I thought The Omega Man was just bad and made I Am Legend look like a masterpiece.
    As far as epidemic movies, there's an anime movie called King of Thorn that was really good, with a virus that turned people to stone, but there's a lot more to it. It's worth a watch!

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    1. I agree I Am Legend is much better than The Omega Man. Never heard of King of Thorn, but that does sound interesting. Thanks for reading!

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