The Day

Another post-apocalyptic flick that has it pro's and contras. What I liked was the way it was shot. Black and white to add to the darkness of such a story and colour when the world was still turning around without any problems. The contra is the use of CGI for red stuff and some killings. Nevertheless, it's still worth picking up if you dig flicks like The Road (2009).

There's nothing supernatural or creepy to this flick. You go rather deep into the characters before hell breaks out. But even that isn't scary or whatsoever. Again, it's positive to see that the good ones can die too. It never is rather gory but the shots taking place at night are sometimes a bit too dark to actually see the blood sputter around.

Still, not a bad attempt with a simple story about five survivors being exhausted and searching for a place to take a rest but once they found a house it doesn't seem what it looks like. It's a trap and things go awry from then. But even in the group of five there are things coming out of the closet.

I didn't had a problem with the ending as some did. A good low budget flick made for the lovers of dark (no pun intended) flicks with some brutality involved.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2,5/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Bleak and fairly effective low-budget survivalism in the post-apocalyptic hellscape. Set ten years after the no-need-to-explain end of world (one character notes: "it's been two years since we heard a bird chirp)and with, in the first half of the movie, a cinéma vérité feel, what remains of humanity seems to be running on fumes. Whereupon, events take a turn for the worse.

Produced by and featuring Dominic Monaghan, the script initially appears to tread the conventions of a zombie movie, until it becomes clear that the five main characters face opponents far worse than the undead.

Well considered use of color-bleached cinematography keep the protagonists trapped in a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD milieu even as the enemy enjoys blue-eyed, blue-sky color.

"The Day" started out very promising for me, but within a half hour unexpectedly turned a different direction. Which for some of you may actually be a plus but I'm old school. It is filmed in the greys of a post apocalyptic ravaged world with most of the movie set in an old farm house. The protagonists are not zombies, or aliens, or some lethal mutant virus....or even just survival of a wasted world and that's where it disappointed me. Yet I think most people into apocalyptic movies will like this movie a lot...(Especially If you like quite a bit of kickass action and blood and guts) For a movie obviously on a budget it's all VERY well done. The directing and acting is excellent. There are lots of scenes done at night, a bit hard to follow and a few editing slips, but the vast majority of this movie is HUGE leaps and bounds, in every aspect, above most smaller and lower budget productions in the post apocalyptic genre. So if the subject matter interests you, I have no doubt you should give this movie a try.

The almost black and white color drained tone fits with the movie's grim, desperate atmosphere. The plot is simple: a small group of survivors, an abandoned house, and "Danger" lurking everywhere.

The Day directed by Douglas Aarniokoski based on a screenplay by Luke Passmore tries hard to be a serious survival film, but it's slowed down by boring melodrama and cringeworthy dialogue. The characters feel like stock stereotypes, and the overuse of dramatic music adds to the unintentional comedy. If you're looking for a thought-provoking film, this isn't it.

Filming took place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, during the fall of 2010

There is a twist, but overall, it's a below-average, almost bad movie.

For some reason (possibly due to the marketing) people seem to think that The Day is about zombies. It's not. It doesn't even feature a slightly hungry vampire. It's totally UN-supernatural (unless you count the fact that the world has - technically - come to an end and everyone's living in a post-apocalyptic landscape).

Five survivors take refuge in a farmhouse which basically doesn't belong to them. Soon, those who own it come for what they believe is theirs. Carnage ensues.

First of all I have to mention 'the look' of this film. I know it's meant to be bleak, but the film-makers have gone to the added length of basically draining all the colour from the footage. It certainly does the trick. The atmosphere is definitely bleak. During the night scenes, you might as well be watching a black and white film. This will appeal to some, others may find it a little annoying.

After a (very!) slow start, the five characters (of whom we get to know and care for reasonably well) come under siege from the owners of the farmhouse (apparently, in an earlier draft they were zombies). This is, of course, when the majority of the action starts. Although, it comes well into the final third of the movie, making the 'climax' shorter than you might expect.

The Day has a kind of '28 Days Later' look and feel to it (helped by the pretty good musical score) and plays out like Assault on Precinct 13.

I've seen a lot of reviewers raving about The Day, but, despite a few nice touches here and there (plus some bits that actually surprised a hardened film-goer like myself), I never thought it was that much of a classic.

In short, it's not bad. If you're looking for a post-apocalyptic version of Precinct 13 then this one could be for you.