Macabre…ish Horror Review: The Day
The Day, 2011/ 87 min.
A group of five travel their post apocalyptic environment in search of food and shelter and in their wake, cannibals. The weather is bad, some of them are sick and they’re road weary.
They are seeking safety and a permanent place where they can set up a settlement. On the way, they check out abandoned houses, not just to scavenge but they have to be on the look out of a trap.
If the place is found empty and deemed relatively safe, then they’ll take shelter there but usually not for long.
Rick (Dominic Monaghan) carries with him, two jars of seeds that he’s excited to plant when they find their permanent place. He’s hopeful and a bit of dreamer. But his ‘dreams’ infuriates some of the group, specifically Adam (Shawn Ashmore), he hates it. Some of them are friends from before and sometimes they talk about it. Those they miss and who are likely dead now.
They are all mourning in their own way, some rage, some are suicidal and all are traumatized. There’s no healing, just fear and running from roaming cannibals.
The house they spent the night in and need to stay in because Henson (Cory Hardrict) is really ill, begins to feel unsafe. They don’t know why, it’s just a feeling but they’re right. The long wolf among them, Mary (Ashley Bell), during her bath, spots him first and luckily she’s a crack shot.
The guys find out themselves when they discover a basement full of canned food, it turns out to be a trap after all. Mary and Shannon (Shannyn Sossamon) run back to the house and find the basement is sealed shut and alarm bells are blaring.
Then they arrive. The women lay in wait outside and they go to war! It turns out, Mary knows something about this group. And even though she killed many of them, now the others do not trust her.
Mary is marked, just like the cannibals are. They are separated into clans and each clan has their own mark. Now they have to decide if she is still one of them or if she escaped. Adam is vengeful because he lost family to a clan and he wants justice.
But a big clan is on the way and they need to make a plan and get ready, Mary can help them fight, maybe.
This post apocalyptic thrill ride was directed by Douglas Aarniokoski and has a small all star cast. It’s violent and bloody. The cinematography (Boris Mojsovski) is great! It’s dark and makes the already heavy subject matter, bleak. You know from the very beginning it’s going to have a dark outcome. The fight scenes and skill are great! It’s mostly just bloody, not much gore and it’s often hard to watch. It’s the story of only a few days and it is a hard few days. Very well done!