The Horror Show
Here Alone
by Rod Blackhurst
There hasn’t been much buzz that I’ve seen for this recent release entitled Here Alone and I find that to be a shame, because there really should be more people talking about it.
Here Alone is quite the isolationist film and a large part of the plot focuses on Ann (played by Lucy Walters) and her daily routine of surviving in the wilderness as society falls victim to a doomsday plague. Flashbacks shown throughout the film tell the story of Ann and her family escaping the city and the unfortunate events that led her to be alone in the middle of nowhere. Eventually some other characters pop up, adding tension and paranoia to the mix, and I can definitely tell you this, if you didn’t hate teenagers before this film, you will want to go out and slap one when it’s finished.
While this film would fall into the post-apocalyptic or zombie category, I think it’s a tale well-told and really survivalist skills take the main stage here. There’s no cache of weaponry or big hero here, it’s just Ann alone in the woods rationing out her food and covering herself in her own shit to be able to mask her scent from the infected. It’s realistic in that the characters (though there are so few) seem to be average, every day people just trying to make it in a world that no longer offers a reason to try.
Another great point that the film drives home is that while she’s out there surviving on her own, the flashbacks remind us that she was once a mother. Without giving anything away, I will just say that the maternal instinct is there. When the shit hits the fan and the selfish choice would have been the one to make most sense to some, to a mother like Ann, she knew what had to be done.
Here Alone sets itself apart from the long list of other “zombie” films out there, but it doesn’t so much focus on the zombies. You won’t see hordes of undead roaming city streets or devouring groups of survivors, this is much more tense with little action. When you do see the infected though, the make-up is killer and it almost makes you wish they had been focused on just a bit more. Sound is the real key player in this film, adding an extra layer of fear and stress any time that Ann finds herself having to set out for supplies in the nearby town.
I would definitely recommend this film. There aren’t a ton of action or gore-filled horror moments, but the scenes that do have them are worth waiting for. If you’re looking for a more realistic zombie film with dark survivalist tones then check out Here Alone for sure, it’s worth a watch or two.
Stevie Kopas, HMS
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