THE SKY HAS FALLEN

THE SKY HAS FALLEN

USA, 2009
Director: Doug Roos

7,5/10

Hey, there seems to be a wave of good independent post-apocalyptic movies a-coming! After the wonderful Brazilian "Beyond The Grave", I found another end-of-the-world flick in my mailbox: the grim "The Sky Has Fallen", a very well made low-budget horror flick about a man and a woman, hiding in the wilderness from a zombie armada, created and controlled by mysterious and eerie-looking black figures.

Just when you thought that post-apocalyptic zombie flicks are so last summer, Doug Roos comes along and proves you wrong: his take on the classic infected/undead story is inventive and refreshingly original, dark and creepy, brutal and uncompromising, but also insightful, highly emotional and surprisingly poetic.

From beginning to end, the movie is tense, gripping and atmospheric, thanks to Roos' sharp and well-paced direction, a clever script full of wonderful dialogue, interesting plot points and cool plot twists, and the intimate camera work.

Roos was also responsible for the excellent editing which resulted in a few amazingly cut fight sequences where the main character hacks and slashes himself through dozens of zombies with a sword.
Yes, a fucking sword - and yes, that's just kick-ass :)

Highlights: the stunningly epic string score from James Sizemore (who also worked on bigger budget productions like "A Dangerous Method" or "Hugo"), a huge amount of gore, blood, gruesome kills/torture and brutally mutilated faces (all practical, NO CGI), and the powerful and highly believable performances from Laurel Kemper and Carey MacLaren.

As for the flaws, there are a few tedious scenes, too many unanswered questions and some make-up effects that look unfinished - but apart from that, "The Sky Has Fallen" is an impressive debut feature, fabulously thrilling and unforgettably haunting, but also terrifically intelligent and heartwarmingly beautiful.

Imdb
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[Thanks to Doug for sending me a screener of the movie.]