Agrega una trama en tu idiomaAn ambitious lab assistant carries out a forbidden experiment and accidentally creates a deadly bacteria which kills her and rapidly engulfs the city. The authorities order a curtain of secr... Leer todoAn ambitious lab assistant carries out a forbidden experiment and accidentally creates a deadly bacteria which kills her and rapidly engulfs the city. The authorities order a curtain of secrecy and impose quarantine on all known contacts whilst embarking on a desperate search for... Leer todoAn ambitious lab assistant carries out a forbidden experiment and accidentally creates a deadly bacteria which kills her and rapidly engulfs the city. The authorities order a curtain of secrecy and impose quarantine on all known contacts whilst embarking on a desperate search for a cure. Meanwhile one of the people in quarantine escapes and becomes the unwitting carri... Leer todo
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- 2 premios ganados y 1 nominación en total
- Epileptic
- (as Allan Habberfield)
- Woman in London Hospital
- (as Lynda Kemp)
- Jill's Mother
- (as Cathy Marielle)
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Everybody is familiar with the principle of "Murphy's Law", right? Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Within the fine profession of incident investigation, there exists a similar theory called the "Swiss Cheese Model". Explained as simply as possible: each process or mechanism has a series of protective barriers and built-in preventive measures to ensure that, in the event or a calamity, serious or even disastrous consequences are avoided. But, as in Murphy's Law, you'll always see that these barriers can and will fail when you need them most. And, to make matters worse, multiple barriers will fail at the same time and the hazard will always find a way through the mazes of the net. To visualize it: the hazard always finds a new hole in the Swiss cheese through which it can pass.
Why is this relevant in the context of a review for a cheap & cheesy late-70s horror flick like "Plague"? Well, to illustrate the plot of the film is not that exaggeratedly far-fetched. Unlikely things happen and usually solid barriers do fail. The ventilation pipes of air-conditioning systems will inexplicably blow in the opposite direction. Carriers of a virus will sadly be the ones to escape from quarantine. People that usually wear hygienic gloves to prepare sandwiches will exceptionally not wear them on the fatal day the should, etc. It's the painful truth of Murphy's Law or the Swiss-Cheese model. In many reviews, even by acclaimed critics, I noticed these plot elements being referred to as dire clichés, but they are truthful.
There are two eras to look at film titles like "Plague", or at better and more known movies of the same type, like "The China Syndrome" or "Outbreak". There's pre-Covid and post-Covid. Nobody really believed scenarios like these were realistic in pre-Covid times, but we're not so sure anymore now. Even in this low-budgeted and practically forgotten 1979 flick, there are sequences where newscasters spread messages like "stay inside your house" and "avoid contact with other people as much as possible". Those warnings have an entirely different impact now, after the year 2020, than they had in 1979.
Even purely talking in terms of entertainment and horror/cult value. I enjoyed "Plague". True, it's extremely slow-paced and overly talkative, but writer/director Ed Hunt manages to maintain an uncomfortable atmosphere of fear and tension throughout. The footage of dying school children, violent riots between militaries and ordinary petrified people trying to leave the city to save themselves, or infected scientists locking themselves inside their laboratories to prevent further spreading of a virus are unsettling. The fairly unknown (to me, at least) cast members give believable performances and the minimal use of music and noises (like chiming bells) are effective. On a more personal note, I'm also a follower of the curious director Ed Hunt. He made one of my favorite early 80 horror flicks, with the uniquely original and creepy "Bloody Birthday", but also two of the worst - but nevertheless amusing - Sci-Fi/horror flicks with "Starship Invasions" and "The Brain". In terms of quality and amusement value "Plague" neatly ranks in the middle of his oeuvre.
The acting in the movie far surpasses what it needs to be, and adds a lot to the movie. Daniel Pilon plays Dr. Bill Fuller who works on trying to make a cure to the bacteria, which actually he and his assistant were responsible for creating, the latter responsible for releasing.
For people who have seen Ed Hunt movies previously such as The Brain or Bloody Birthday, and liked them, i can guarantee you will get enjoyment out of this. It is excellent 70's trashy fun. However if you do not like late 70's cheaply made movies, and you are looking for something more along the lines of 28 Days Later, this movie may not be for you.
PLAGUE is a Canadian horror-sci-fi / disaster film that bears a passing resemblance to earlier "infection" movies from David Cronenberg, especially his film RABID. There's even a young woman on the run after breaking quarantine, ala Marilyn Chambers' character in RABID.
There are also elements similar to THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, not in substance, but in atmosphere. This is rather interesting, since Kate Reid plays about the same role here that she played in that film!
Still, PLAGUE isn't bad on its own merit. It's a fairly low budget production, with a boom mic visible a few times and the sign for the research facility flapping in the breeze. The acting is adequate, but a bit stiff in places. Overall, not a total waste of time...
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- ConexionesReferences Sexual Freedom in Marriage (1970)
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- CAD 525,000 (estimado)