You have to really wonder about a movie that’s shot with no script, one location, a twelve dollar budget, and bills itself as a “cheesy horror zombie comedy.” But what will come as a surprise is that “After the Day” is actually really good.
The first thing you’ll notice is that this is a wildly altered near future, featuring items like the “Republic of Texas” and the “People’s Monarchy of California.” Basically, one day, almost at random, a mushroom cloud shows up over Southern California, and that starts us off on a path to the end of the world.
Oh, and zombies. There will be plenty of zombies.
I’ve got to disagree with them, though… this isn’t all that cheesy. I can see this happening in the event of nuclear war. People making bad jokes, people yelling at close friends and family, all that sort of thing. Of course, you have to wonder how, following the EMP burst that took out every electronic device in Southern California, Homeland Security got a helicopter in the air. But then, the government probably had like Faraday pulse cages over all their stuff. There are also an awful lot of lights on around the neighborhood as well, and I doubt anyone put pulse cages around the light fixtures.
Even better is the geopolitical situation– watching the United States break apart in the truest “Crimson Skies” fashion is definitely intriguing. Though if Utah were to break away, they probably wouldn’t call themselves the “Morman Republic.” I’d put my money on “Deseret.” Or failing that, they’d at least, you know, spell it right and call it the Mormon Republic. The Monarchy’s services are also not the best, as we’ll discover throughout.
Okay, so it’s not all sunshine and lollipops. The plot is best described as “obtuse.” It’s probably a little overambitious, trying to figure in a major geopolitical upheaval alongside Zombie Apocalypse and even throwing in some vampires just for what I can only guess is variety’s sake. It’s the kind of thing that, to do properly, might well require at least three novels. However, the last five to seven minutes are the most fun a gorefest that you’ve seen in a long while. Possibly since the last time you watched the lawnmower scene in “Dead Alive.”
There are indeed plenty of laughs, horror, and zombies in “After the Day”, and not near so much cheese. If you can get your hand on a copy, try it!
