The Day (2011) : "The Walking Hungry"

First before you read this review there is something that must be said: This isn't a Zombie movie (gasp!). Well, sort of. But not really. Confused? Read on.........

The premise: Ten years after society collapsed following an unspecified catastrophe, survivors Rick (Dominic Monaghan), Adam (Shawn Ashmore), Henson (Cory Hardrict), Shannon (Shannyn Sossamon), and Mary (Ashley Bell ----probably the only recognizable actor in the movie) wander aimlessly across the scorched earth, seeking sustenance and shelter from the roving hordes of cannibals who consume the living.

OK, so there are no Zombies but there are people eating people. Flesh-eating without all of the "grrrr-arrrrrgh" and all that.

Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski, “The Day” looks radiant and parched, as if shot through an Instagram filter; it’s blandly striking and pretty all at the same time. It reminded me a lot of "Exit Humanity" in its filming style. This is one of those movies that could probably survive on its cinematography alone if there was no dialogue from the cast.


But..........unfortunately there was dialogue. Bad dialogue. Really bad dialogue. Think "every post-apocalyptic movie cliche you have ever heard" bad.

Color me disappointed. Is there an Instagram filter for that?

OK, I'll admit that I was super-pumped about this movie before I watched it, so maybe I had unfairly built it up too much in my head. Unfortunately I found myself at about the 1/2 hour point fighting the urge to turn it off. The characters were sadly one-dimensional, which caused me to lose interest in whether they lived or died. The only remotely interesting character was Mary, who was the stereotypical "loner kick-ass female with a dark secret past to be revealed later".

There's a small plot-twist or two during the movie, but for the most point it was totally predictable. During this time of "The Walking Dead" mid-season hiatus, I was really hoping this could be a nice filler snack. Don't get me wrong, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen.............I was just let down.

My verdict? On a "Zombie Movie Scale of 1-10" I'd give this one a 5.


I wanted to like it more but great cinematography can only make up for so much. If the writers would have made the characters a little multi-dimensional instead of cardboard cut-outs, this would have been a much better movie.

In the interest of full-disclosure and perspective, I did waste an entire hour of my life last nite watching "Zombie Apocalypse" on Discovery HD. "Zombie Apocalypse" was a documentary about a bunch of preppers that are ready for the world to end due to a Zombie uprising. It was a hoaky, horrible waste of an hour of programming. Truly horrible. I would have gladly watched "The Day" again instead of that program..

WATCH IT IF: You have a choice of watching it or "Zombie Apocalypse:, are just jones'n for a post-apocalyptic film and need a fix, or are an Ashley Bell fan.

DON'T WATCH IT IF: You have Season 2 of "The Walking Dead" on your Tivo to catch up on, get turned-off by poor character development and poor dialogue, or have some Christmas present wrapping to do. Even then you could watch it with the sound turned down.

"The Day" is available for streaming on Amazon and can be purchased on DVD from many sources.

More info can be found on IMDB here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1756799/

Up next: Due to the impending Christmas Holiday, we may take a break for a week. When we come back we'll take a look at "The Dead". Merry Chistmas and thanks for reading!