Impact Event follows the aftermath of the titular moment when a meteor crashes into Earth, killing the majority of humans in the process. A family-owned bomb shelter turned seasonal scare house is how the owner Billy (Chris Giese), Gordon (Jed Rowen), and Cassie (Tasha Tacosa) survive the impact. They only leave the fully-stocked haven only for emergencies, such as checking the water pump at the nearby lake, and in a hazmat suit.
For seven months, they eke out a living, if one can call it that, in the shelter. But, while out one day, Billy runs afoul of some escaped prisoners from the nearby jail. They beg him for clean water and something to eat. Billy is not so easily trusting, especially since two of the inmates’ suits are torn and tattered. As soon as he finds out that they survived by eating the other prisoners, Billy makes a beeline back to the haunted house. Of course, the jailbirds are in hot pursuit, so now a showdown begins with the spook show workers utilizing their knowledge of the creepy maze-like structure and strobe lighting to take out the cannibalistic creeps.
“…a meteor crashes into Earth, killing the majority of humans…”
Impact Event opens with Ed (Vernon Wells), who I think is meant to be an astrophysicist or some such, telling Amanda (Margaret O’Brien) about the new trajectory of this meteor that should narrowly miss the planet. She double checks his math and confirms he is correct – the meteor will hit, not miss, us. It is a very serious, somber prologue. So imagine the dissonance that occurs when the opening title sequence hits. It is set to a rather catchy, upbeat song that is at odds with the prologue, which contains the line “So, this is how the world ends?”
Given how the rest of the quirky character study come action film plays out, the prologue feels tacked on and superfluous. From a marketing standpoint, yeah, it has Wells and O’Brien, two decent names that still attract an audience, but at over 100-minutes long, it is not needed. The film also highlights having Richard Greico and Michael Berryman in it, but between even totaling their screen time together, it does not hit double digits. Mind you, none of this means these actors do poorly. But they are only here so the film can put their names in the credits, not to be fully-fleshed out characters.
"…once the cannibals and scare workers go head-to-head, the thrills intensify..."
