Film Review: Autumn
Autumn (2009)
Studio: Renegade Motion Pictures
Directed By: Steven Rumbelow
Cast: Dexter Fletcher, Lana Kamenov David Carradine, Dickon Tolson
Review By: Johnny Horror
Editors note: This is an early review of a film that is still currently in post-production. The filmmakers were kind enough to send a copy for review to our own Johnny Horror, and we’re happy to share with you. As the film is not currently completed we are withholding a rating at this time.
A group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic wasteland have to learn how to pick up the pieces and survive with the living and the undead. When the dead start to reanimate our group of survivors tend to think that the “Walkers” or “Meat Suits” would rot and fall apart. They learn that the longer the undead stay re-animated the more they learn the instincts of the humans, tend to get more clever, more aggressive and dangerous.
Autumn is a highly awaited motion picture based on a novel by David Moody and is exactly what I have been looking for in a horror film. It doesn’t rely on just blood and gore, it goes beyond that and delivers a psychological horror thriller that delivers shock and grief of the human body. Autumn is not about zombies that get infected by a bite, kill the remaining survivors to have all their heads blown off. It goes into our body’ drive, our way of living and our logical processes. The film reminds this old soul of one in particular film I have seen hundreds of times and that is George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead (1968), and it also has tension like in the French film ILS (THEM) and Stephen King’s “The Stand”. The film takes fear and survival to a whole new meaning and it tests our will to live.
Autumn starts off very tranquil, the scenes of yellow and orange leaves falling one by one from the fall foliage, But as each leaf falls one more victim dies. Within a few hours billions die from a mysterious airborne virus. Victims soon suffer horrific deaths as all their internal organs begin to fail like Lindsey Lohan’s acting career. Whole towns are destroyed to oblivion within minutes. The cities become infested feeding grounds for the undead, Soon the culture of civilization collapses with human beings spilling blood out of their mouths, the scene gets nasty quickly like a Taco Bell public restroom. The title of Autumn fills the screen and we horror survival fans are in for a treat.
The movie continues its pace and it’s as good as a dough boy with melted butter and powdered sugar. In time the few survivors that are left understand that the longer the “Walkers” exist the closer they become to being just like us. I tend to not give away too much in the way of spoilers but one scene that I truly loved was this one man’s mother laying on the bed rotting like a leftover pumpkin on Halloween, her face oozing of black rotted flesh like black spots that form on an infected tooth. The last time I have seen something that gross laying on a bed was Linda Blair from The Exorcist.
I really can’t stress the impact Autumn had on me, I loved many things about the film, it’s atmosphere was awesome! The scenes were filled with the warm calm settings of winter and autumn and the towns and cites were covered in destruction and decay. Never in my time of watching a film did I feel calm and disturbed at the same time. The settings were done with that intent.
This is a movie that I Am Legend failed miserably on becoming and it has the tradition feel like in Stephen King’s “The Stand” and George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead 1968. This ‘AUTUMN’ not only the leaves will fall but also your way of civilization.
I Am What I Say I Am “Rated R” [JohnnyHorror]
To check this film out further be sure to visit the official website: http://www.autumnthemovie.com
View Trailer: http://www.spotlight-pictures.com/films/AUTUMN/
