Two great Zombie type movies without zombies

[Silentdawn]

For those of you that are into end of the world disaster movies and high quality film i can recommend these two

'Survivors' Epi.1 Pt.1/6 'The Fourth Horseman' Series 1 ...you've prolly never even heard of it let alone seen it but you will NEVER forget it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1SrFGXgA4

THREADS...when Brian aldiss spoke of a 'cosy catastrophe' he sure as hell wasn't pointing at this...you've heard of slasher movies, this one will have you wanting to slash yer wrists with a rusty Stanley before its over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MCbTvoNrAg


Great movies blend Gritty Realism with Cosy Catastrophe....far too many movies get sucked into the warp of Chuck Norris land. When it comes to zombie movies If you have to lean on something let it be gritty reality not high fantasy. Your fan base and the box office will thank you.





All films are strongly grounded in reality. Even the most esoteric ones

The quickest way to destroy any film is to add a single drop of unneeded fantasy.


The two films above are clear demonstrations of what you can gain when you add a drop or three of reality

The 'fantasy lever' is the lazymans infantile solution to genuine creative problem.



Q when was the last time a filmed bombed because the actors where too convincing, the plot too plausible, the CGI too realistic and the storyline too credible ?

[EvilNed]

Threads is great. My favorite post-apocalyptic film, bar none.

Haven't seen Survivors. Thanks for the tip.

[Silentdawn]

@ EvilNed

oh man are you in for a treat !...for me Survivors was sooo good, i stopped watching after 45mins, went up the shops and bought 48 hours of supplies, came back drew the curtains and locked myself in for the entire weekend.


Result = W+O+W...i truly feel as though i was there and lived it. A unique experience i shall carry with to my grave.


Top you tube comment

The Best TV programme ever made .. intelligent, thought-provoking, great acting, and so real characters.. the only TV show made (then) that had no incidental music.. a tour de force in storytelling, a whole world to immerse yourself into, and worryingly, its probably more poignant now than when it was made. none better.



Tip: It is a bit of pain linking up all the parts to watch as some sections are hard to find . ( Bookmark aftermaths channel ) But its well worth filling your links bar in advance. If you got the dosh, just buy the whole series you wont regret it...if not then take the time to line up a bunch of clips they are each are just 10 minutes long, AFAIK its still all there, some 50 hours worth of celluloid goodness !....

IMHO regardless of age,race,sex,religion or film taste Survivors should be in everyone's top hundred films to see. Forget of mice & men, to kill a mocking bird, 1984, Thx1138, Harvey, Guess whose coming to dinner or Cathy come home etc etc this is 21st century Shakespeare, the Canterbury tales of our era...its all these rolled into one and more.

[EvilNed]

I found this little playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1SrFGXgA4&list=PLF15D75CE6CCEA1B8

From the looks of it, it seems as if it's got most of Series 1 linked up against each other.

I'm gonna give Episode 1 a go tonight. I have a good feeling about this.

[Silentdawn]

It was a couple of year back when i last watched it but after posting and talking about it i felt compelled to re watch it...im up to 'Corn Dolly' episode 4


Season 1 is the best but its stays fairly good throughout the entire series though it does tail off a little. That said even the flat spots are bearable because you know the next great scene or good episode is just around the corner.

Watching 1970's series Survivors just reminds me that a 3 hour film no matter how good is nothing more than a patchy rush job.

The trouble is you'd need a billion$ budget and a lifetime contract to create 100 hours of seamless cinematic perfection that could encapsulate all that needed to be encapsulated....one day in the history of mankind we will switch over to make 'expansive high art'

Yesterday we Shakespeare and the Canterbury tales, today we have TV series and movie trilogies. I reckon within 50 years CGI will be good enough to displace reality at least as far as film making goes. Indeed such great works will probably constructed by HAL9000 type computers...and why not. You talk and flap your arms, they create and refine


Its a funny old world we live in, a past so very different from the present and a future we know for sure will be very different from today.

Android Apocalypse starts with a power cut, lol, the survivors scavenging for oil and spare batteries.

[shootemindehead]

'Survivors' isn't bad alright. But they made a piss-poor remake a few years ago that was pretty rubbish. It hit all the wrong notes and was cancelled quite early.

'Threads', on the other hand, is one of the most horrible things the BBC ever did. I remember seeing it in 1984 as a kid and it scared the crap out of me, much more so than anything of a fantastic nature could do. Its sheer bleak nature and that no-nonsense approach to drama that British television used to have, went a long way to forging an unforgettable experience. In total contrast to the other nuclear apocalypse show of the same period, 'The Day After', which was pretty laughable in comparison...sorry Yanks!

Barry Hines, the writer of 'Threads', also wrote the novel that formed the basis of Ken Loach's film, 'Kes', which is also well worth checking out. It's another bleak take on life in Britain, but in a different way altogether. People from across the pond may need some subtitles though, as the Yorkshire accents can be pretty impenetrable at times.

"Eeeeee, by gum!"

[Legion2213]

I have all three series of the original "Survivors" on DVD. Brilliant series, especially series one.

The original BBC "Day of the Triffids" is in the same top notch category as well...strongly recommended if you like Survivors and general PA TV series/stories.

[Neil]

Haven't seen Survivors. Thanks for the tip.
I loved the 1970s BBC Survivors, especially the first series! Just a shame the recent BBC remake was such a mess!

It really caught the feeling of the problem people would face if society collapsed.

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The original BBC "Day of the Triffids" is in the same top notch category as well...
And the 1980s BBC Day Of The Triffids is absolutely brilliant! The recent BBC remake was pretty bad IMHO.

[krisvds]

And the 1980s BBC Day Of The Triffids is absolutely brilliant! The recent BBC remake was pretty bad IMHO.

No kidding. I remember seeing it when I was a teenager. It scared me to bits.
Thanks for reminding me. Had forgotten about it and will now have to hunt down a copy to show my sons.

When they're a bit older. Five and three is perhaps too tender an age for the Triffids. :)

[Legion2213]

No kidding. I remember seeing it when I was a teenager. It scared me to bits.
Thanks for reminding me. Had forgotten about it and will now have to hunt down a copy to show my sons.

When they're a bit older. Five and three is perhaps too tender an age for the Triffids. :)

You can pick it up for less than £5 on amazon at the moment...money well spent IMO. The BBC used to do fantastic drama back in the day.

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I loved the 1970s BBC Survivors, especially the first series! Just a shame the recent BBC remake was such a mess!

It really caught the feeling of the problem people would face if society collapsed.

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And the 1980s BBC Day Of The Triffids is absolutely brilliant! The recent BBC remake was pretty bad IMHO.

I've never seen the modern remakes of DotT or Survivors. the reviews lead me to believe they were both pretty mediocre when compared to the originals.

[Neil]

I've never seen the modern remakes of DotT or Survivors. the reviews lead me to believe they were both pretty mediocre when compared to the originals.
Very very limp writing!

DotD, basically went through the running zombies phase, with ninja triffids that were quick and could even climb up trees.

"The Survivors", instead of concentrating on the drama of individuals left to cope with no society to look after them, instead decided to create a super bad government organisation to create story lines involving our characters. Silly!

[Gaucha Z]

Now I need to check those movie out, seems interesting! :sneaky:

[Neil]

Now I need to check those movie out, seems interesting! :sneaky:

They were TV series...

[wayzim]

'Threads', on the other hand, is one of the most horrible things the BBC ever did. I remember seeing it in 1984 as a kid and it scared the crap out of me, much more so than anything of a fantastic nature could do. Its sheer bleak nature and that no-nonsense approach to drama that British television used to have, went a long way to forging an unforgettable experience. In total contrast to the other nuclear apocalypse show of the same period, 'The Day After', which was pretty laughable in comparison...sorry Yanks!

Barry Hines, the writer of 'Threads', also wrote the novel that formed the basis of Ken Loach's film, 'Kes', which is also well worth checking out. It's another bleak take on life in Britain, but in a different way altogether. People from across the pond may need some subtitles though, as the Yorkshire accents can be pretty impenetrable at times.

"Eeeeee, by gum!"

No apologies needed for this Yank, as The Day After kept pulling punches every time there was even a hint of hopelessness. The closest film we ever had to Threads, in the same time frame, was Testament ( where Jane Alexander tries to keep her family together as radiation sickness starts killing off the town around them. )

[EvilNed]

I'm gonna play the Devil's Advocate here...

I don't think The Day After is that much sweetened up, in contrast to Threads. It does ignore the worst parts of nuclear winter, focusing instead (like the testament) on the radiation sickness that would strike. But even so, all the characters we follow in The Day After either die from radiation sickness or are about too. Plus, while both are low budget, Threads is much more so. I just feel that The Day After is a much better told story. I care more aboutt the characters in The Day After when I realize that the bombs are about to hit than I do in Threads.

Even so, I do agree that Threads is the superior film and a much darker one. The Day After is still very much dark - it is after all a film where more or less everyone dies.

The Testament is a bit too sweet for my tastes. It's got that very distinct "this is a movie" filter. If Threads is downright dirty, and The Day After is rather messed up as well, the Testament remains rather clean by comparison. People die off, but very little emotion is shown. Nice seeing Kevin Costner in an early role, tho...

[dracenstein]

Just wanted to mention that the first episode of the original Survivors killed off most of the world's population, you didn't see anybody die on-screen. And most of the cast were playing Middle Class people with only one actor playing a Working Class man - and I seem to remember he was a cripple?

So long since I saw it but did watch the first episode on youtube yesterday.