The Mansion

This is a great little gem of a film with a lot more depth and heart than the usual post apocalyptic fare. I'm a big fan of the genre but I need a decent character driven story and a good dose of tension. Refuge has both of these and is set in a gritty, grey, disturbing world where violent gangs prey upon the weak in their search for food and shelter. The film is relatively short but there are no wasted scenes or dialogue, just lean, tense moments and characters whose objectives seem all too relatable. The last five minutes really ratchet up the nerves. If you liked the raw bleakness of the Survivalist and Here Alone, you'll like this.

This 2013 movie was repackaged and called "American Apocalypse" in 2021 after COVID broke out. They added some text at the beginning of the movie referring to "the first pandemic of the 21st century" and how this was the second.

It is clearly very low budget. When the characters are outside, they do a lot of long shots where you can't see anyone's lips moving, so that they could add the dialogue later. (I gather that getting clean sound outside is too expensive for their budget.) Overall, they really made the most of every dollar. The acting is pretty good, the story had some issues but wasn't bad. It is very well put together in terms of the filming and the editing.

What's it about? Well it's typical post-apocalyptic fare. Everybody's got to eat, and food is more scarce than ammo. There's a group here, and another group there, and another one down the road aways, and one or two others. It's definitely not a bad use of 75 minutes.

This came as a bit of a surprise. Clearly very low budget but actually had a nice post-apocalyptic feel to it and most of the cast did a decent job.

Worth a look for anyone who enjoys the end of the world genre.

A good apocalyptic that film follows a family trying to survive a post apocalyptic America, trying to keep one step ahead of evil gangs.

I thought this was a good flick. The tension in the world was felt all the time, and the tension at certain times brought you In. The filming was very dark ofcourse (think the road) and the sets were great. Fantastic acting isn't required for a film like this but everyone did their job well for their characters with the lead especially good,

A bit violent at times but it doesn't dwell on it, always keeping a good pace, the world especially was believable and shorter run time was appreciated. If you like this kind of film, watch it.

1. Hair dye and makeup (eye liner) still available and used to keep blonde "looker" a looker 2. In all of these movies, gasoline does not "foul", for some reason same gasoline gums up all my motors if left for 6-12 months. 3. All dogs and cats die 4. Rotting corpses no longer stink, I have a piece of old chicken in my fridge and the smell is unbearable.