The Plague

Advertising for this film seems to mention Clive Barker's name quite a bit which was enough to intrigue me - after all, who can't love the guy who created HELLRAISER and who was responsible for some of the strongest horror writing in the 1980s? Sadly it turns out that Barker was only a producer here and had no hand in the writing or anything.

And THE PLAGUE suffers as a result. The title and premise makes it sound like some kind of post-apocalyptic movie but instead it turns out to be nothing more than a low-budget zombie outing with some decidedly dodgy writing. Indeed, the writers never seem to really figure out what makes their antagonists tick and the addition of a religious edge to the narrative is very tiresome. It particularly falls apart at the head-scratching climax, which will have you groaning and shaking your head at the same time.

Up until that point, it's B-movie business as usual, with the exceptionally wooden James Van Der Beek struggling to contend with a virus which has transformed all of the world's children into killers. The script is poor and the characters absolutely diabolical thanks to their stupidity. I found the women characters particularly dumb here, given to acting in idiotic ways which soon ends in their death; even poor Dee Wallace can do little with the role she's given. A handful of mildly tense siege bits and some gore isn't enough to lift THE PLAGUE from the B-movie doldrums, however.

i watched the movie and i thought it was really well directed. James has also did a great job. it contains a bunch of really thrilling scenes. he will be able to experience what the movie characters are feeling...all the horror, pain, scare, despair, it almost feels like you are there. however, the story is not well developed, coz even despite the effort to make this to look real, it seems surreal and there are a couple of things that were explicit (or even implicit -that i've noticed-). the end of the movie could also be more mysterious or cause more impact, but even though it is a good movie, specially when compared to what we can see in theaters these days.

This is not a great horror film - but it's not a super stinker either. Here's the deal: - If Texas Chainsaw Massacre is your favorite type of horror, you will not like this one at alllll. The gore and zombie fight scenes are not very impressive.

• If you like more "use your brain" type subtle horror films, this one does make you think. It offers no clear explanation for why or how, but it does offer a few glimmers that make you wonder that the writers/film-makers have some point they are trying to get across. Unfortunately, even if you come to a conclusion here (as a couple of other reviewers have - and I agree with their conclusions), it's doesn't help the fact that the movie is just kinda there through 75% of the film, despite the very interesting initial premise.

This movie has an effectively mysterious and creepy opening, but the script writer obviously had no idea where to go with it.

The plague's effects on young children throughout the world is an interesting premise. Simultaneously, kids everywhere lapse into a clinically unexplainable coma. The movie seems like a well-mixed concoction of elements from "Village of the Dead," "Night of the Living Dead," "Children of the Corn," and others. After ten years of nightly seizures and under constant care during their long sleep, the mass coma ends as mysteriously as it had begun. The reawakened coma victims are now blood thirsty and violent teenagers, seeking out victims like a vengeful mob. They are not slow, clumsy automatons like typical zombies, and are very capable at using weapons, making them quite formidable and deadly.

Clearly, there must be some impetus for the coma and its violent aftermath, but neither the reason for the spontaneous coma nor the party responsible are ever revealed. There is a wafer-thin spiritual context offered, but even this is woefully poor in development or purpose. The movie is just a fight for survival sequence with lots of bodies and a predictable outcome.

Very disappointing ending makes the whole thing pointless. Don't bother with this one.

In the not to distant future, every human child under age nine mysteriously falls into a coma. Most of the kids are hospitalized, but a few are cared for at home. Twice a day, they have convulsions (which seems to give their bodies a good workout). "The Plague" extends to newborns, also; all are born comatose. As years pass, no healthy babies are born. Births are discouraged, and abortions are mandatory. The victims remain comatose. With no functioning offspring, the human race is threatened with extinction.

This is a reasonably well set-up, but ultimately pointless, confusing, and unsatisfactory story. It's like "Village of the Damned" and "Night of the Living Dead" were copulated, and gave birth to a script. Then, they tried to film it as "The Grapes of Wrath" with James Van Der Beek (as Tom Russell) taking on the protagonist's role and Ivana Milicevic (as Jean Raynor) wanting to take over. The best thing you can say about the ending is that because it's so bad, any subversive message will go right over your head.

**** The Plague (9/5/06) Hal Masonberg ~ James Van Der Beek, Ivana Milicevic, Brad Hunt, Joshua Close