Pandemic

Director: John Suits
Screenplay: Dustin T. Benson
Starring: Rachel Nichols, Alfie Allen, Missi Pyle
Country: USA
Running Time: 91 min
Year: 2016
BBFC Certificate: 18

This is another one of those interesting films mainly due to its filming style which I will be quite looking forward to examining later on in this review so lets jump straight into this with a basic plot summary.

Unfortunately the plot on this film is one that we have seen in my eyes far too many times. We are thrust into a world where there has been a massive virus pandemic which has eradicated the majority of the human race turning them into zombies.  Humanity is losing the battle and is realistically on its last hope which comes in the form of Lauren, a doctor who survived the decimation of New York as she and her team go deep behind enemy lines in L.A. in her hunt for survivors. I ask you these questions at this point, does this plot seem familiar? So why bother watching it? Simply put this breaks many barriers within the filming style and in my eyes we should be supporting films that go beyond the normal conventions. Is it perfect? No. Is it good. Yes.

So I am here talking about out of the box thinking on film style but what makes it so different? Fps filming style.  What is fps? Fps stands for First Person Shooter and is mainly used in video games like DOOM, Call of Duty and many other shoot-em up games. All that you see of the protagonist is his hands as you see the world through his eyes and prospective. It has been used in films before, with two examples which come to mind, but I am sure it has been done in other films before. The two examples that I can think of is the DOOM movie and a new one being released called Hardcore Henry. In DOOM it was used in a five minute scene towards the end whereas in Hardcore Henry, like Pandemic, the Fps style is used throughout.

The casting in this film was very strong and I can only imagine the fun they had in making this movie. The plot, although stereotypical at times, is solid and enjoyable and I would definitely recommend giving it a go. I will actually be buying a copy to go in my dvd collection and look forward to watching it again. It is available now on DVD and VOD.

As always I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.