Next in the chronicles of A to Z Horror is Alone directed by Johnny Martin and written by Matt Naylor. This pandemic produced movie stars MTV Teen Wolf Alum, Tyler Posey and has budget destroying dynamite Donald Sutherland in one of his last acting roles before his passing in 2024.

This movie screams Covid-19 Pandemic production. From its central story and themes to the acting and screen presence of its cast. I was very excited to see Donald Sutherland’s name on the DVD cover as I have always been a huge fan. His roles in Animal House and the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers were introduced to me at a young an impressionable age and so they have stuck with me over the years. I also remember being upset at our weekly movie rental of The Puppet Masters (1994) as it had nothing to do with the Full Moon Features series.

I feel like I need to give that one a re-watch as I found out later it was based on a Heinlein story, and remember from watching in protest under to coffee table that it was actually a decent sci-fi thriller.

Alone was not.

Alone had some promise, but not enough to keep the viewer from getting bored. The characters were not given enough characterization, and for the most part remain stagnant as they communicate with each other through the white boards and small messages from across the apartment complex courtyard.

Donald Sutherland is the only one that brings some life to the film with his glorified cameo (probably where the budget went during the pandemic).

For the most part, the film is pretty predictable and seldom has tension. It feels like the parts in a post-apocalyptic tale where the protagonists have found a safe haven and are spending time enjoying things they used to. If I were to boil it down to an elevator pitch: take the scene in Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead (2004) where the guys are shooting zombies from the roof top and playing chess, and mix it with the introduction of Jim in 28 Days Later (2002), but take away the suspense and humor.

I will give credit where credit is due. These people made a well produced film during the pandemic. It had budget. It had direction. It had cinematography. But it didn’t have that je ne sais qouis that made it a memorable watch like Host (2020) the pandemic zoom seaance film that cpativated audiences on the Shudder channel.

I have a feeling that Alone was in production before the pandemic began and had to be rewritten to accommodate some of the lock down procedures. And we lost a lot of what was going to make it special.

For example: our resident zombies are constantly yelling at the protagonists to shut up or be quiet before trying to horde them. I felt that and was rooting for them to win out. Like sorry you had a meet cute in the middle of the apocalypse, but maybe we should be listen to that viral American Idol girl and just: *insert gif of shut the f*%k up audition. If that reference goes over your head, we are obviously on different algorithms and maybe you need to burn some bridges and go down internet rabbit holes more often.

Any way you look at the movie Alone you want it to be better than it is, but can’t help but marvel at the ability for the movie to get made during a time when many of us were just so uncertain. A time when I thrived in small-town Appalachia as my favorite pasttimes all involve being in the cozy technodruidic household in which I live.

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Check it out from the Cabell County Public Library.

https://cabellcounty.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/test

*THIS POST AND THE A to Z Horror REVIEWS ARE NOT PROVIDED, ENDORSED, or SPONSORED by Cabell County Public Library*

Visit your local library and see what they Horror they have to offer A to Z.