Pandemic (film)

Pandemic is a 2016 American science fiction thriller film directed by John Suits and written by Dustin T. Benson. Rachel Nichols stars as a doctor who leads a group to find survivors of a worldwide pandemic. The film is shot in a first-person POV, similar to first-person shooter video games.[1]

This article is about the 2016 film. For the 2007 miniseries, see Pandemic (miniseries).
Pandemic
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Suits
Written byDustin T. Benson
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMark Putnam
Edited byNicholas Larrabure
Music byAlec Puro
Production
company
Distributed byXLrator Media
Release dates
  • February 26, 2016 (2016-02-26) (FrightFest Glasgow)
  • April 1, 2016 (2016-04-01) (United States)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Lauren Chase, a doctor from New York, comes to Los Angeles to find survivors of a worldwide pandemic. She is assisted by her team, which includes Gunner, Denise, and Wheeler.

Cast

Production

Suits came upon the script, which was initially named Viral, at the Blood List, a repository of unproduced horror and thriller scripts. Suits does not consider the film to be found footage and instead says, "Rather than a found footage movie, I consider it more as a POV first-person movie."[2] The camera setups were designed to simulate this first-person POV rather than someone who is carrying a camera. Suits said that they did not have a successful formula to follow for such a film, though he watched Maniac and Enter the Void for inspiration. Two camera operators, one female and one male, shot the film. The camera operator of the appropriate sex would substitute for whichever character's POV was represented.[2]

Although he was a gamer in his youth, Suits said he could not find time to play many video games for research. Instead, he talked to gamer friends, watched YouTube videos, and discussed interesting kill scenes with the stunt coordinator.[2]

Release

Pandemic premiered at FrightFest Glasgow on February 26, 2016. It replaced Cell at the last moment.[3] XLrator Media gave the film a limited release on April 1, 2016. It was released via video on demand on April 4, 2016.[4]

Reception

Despite some positive reviews the overall reception by critics was mostly negative. The aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 44%, based on 16 reviews. The average rating was 4.80 out of 10.[5]

Jonathan Hatfull of SciFiNow described it as "an energetic POV zombie action movie with some impressive action and less than impressive characterisation".[6] Anton Bitel of Twitch Film called it "a thoroughly bleak portrait of rapid societal breakdown" that is also "a collection of genre clichés".[7] Howard Gorman of Shock Till You Drop wrote, "Relying that much more on the narrative and players involved than POV 'gimmickry', Pandemic succeeds in keeping its audience invested and entertained."[8] Dennis Harvey of Variety called it "a solid if not quite memorable entry in the ever-expanding canon of survivalist undead cinema".[9] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter, in comparing it to Night of the Living Dead and other zombie films, said it shares similar themes but lacks the realism and gravitas.[10] Martin Tsai of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Pandemic proves serviceably frightening, if sporadically gory, maximizing tension derived from unknown dangers".[11]

References
  1. Squires, John (2015-01-27). "Infection Thriller Pandemic Shot in First Person Shooter Perspective". Dread Central. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  2. Gorman, Howard (2016-03-31). "Helmer John Suits Talks POV Apocalyptic Action-Thriller Pandemic". Dread Central. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
  3. Unsworth, Martin (2016-01-22). "PANDEMIC Added to Film4 FrightFest Glasgow". Starburst. Archived from the original on 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  4. Mack, Andrew (2016-01-26). "PANDEMIC: Exclusive Key Art Premiere For John Suits' Sci-fi Actioner". Twitch Film. Archived from the original on 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  5. "Pandemic". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  6. Hatfull, Jonathan (2016-03-01). "FrightFest Glasgow 2016: here's what you missed". SciFiNow. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  7. Bitel, Anton (2016-02-27). "Glasgow FrightFest 2016 Review: PANDEMIC, A Bleak If Derivative Viral Apocalypse". Twitch Film. Archived from the original on 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  8. Gorman, Howard (2016-02-26). "Review: POV Thriller PANDEMIC". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  9. Harvey, Dennis (2016-04-01). "Film Review: 'Pandemic'". Variety. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
  10. Lowe, Justin (2016-04-01). "'Pandemic': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
  11. Tsai, Martin (2016-03-31). "Review 'Pandemic' spreads fear effectively". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
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