ANTISOCIAL (2013) Reviews and overview

  

‘This is no ordinary virus’

Antisocial is a 2013 Canadian horror film directed and co-written by Cody Calahan (director of Let Her Out and co-writer of The Drownsman; Bed of the Dead) for Black Fawn Films/Breakthrough Entertainment.

The movie stars Michelle Mylette, Cody Thompson, Adam Christie, Ana Alic, Romaine Waite and Ryan Barrett.

Plot:

New Year’s Eve, the not so distant future: Five university friends gather at a house party. Unbeknownst to them, an epidemic has erupted outside, causing outbreaks around the world.

With nowhere else to turn, they are told to barricade themselves indoors with only their phones, laptops, and other tech devices. They use their devices to research the possible cause of this outbreak. Information and video footage over flow their computers as they descend further into the cause and the ensuing chaos.

As the virus spreads, the mood in the house changes from fear to paranoia. Reality becomes blurred as they slowly discover the source of the virus causing the sickness…

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Review:

The social media as parasite idea is interesting, if reactionary, and there are a few visual moments – the body horror style hallucinations that first announce infection, the odd moment of explosive violence, a makeshift medical ‘cure’ demonstrated online, a final twenty minutes or so that start to deliver the intensity and delirium that the film really needed much earlier. All this hints at what might have been.

David Flint, MOVIES & MANIA

Other reviews:

“Antisocial has a smart social message-style feel of the early George Romero films had paired with a genuine feeling of paranoia I haven’t felt in a film since the 70’s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The film sets up an amazing premise and runs with it, taking full advantage of our addiction to everything online and exploiting it, and by the end of the film made me a little leery about picking up my iPhone again.” Ain’t It Cool

“It is a straight-up social satire, or, a dire warning about trusting large corporations with access to the machine of your daily lives? The film kind of wants it both ways and both the bloody, brutal violence and desperation bourne out of the mess and the more light-hearted comical observations about it seem to fight for space. It isn’t totally unsuccessful and it isn’t a perfectly balanced production either, it kind of sits firmly in the middle.” Flay Otters, Horror-Movies.ca

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“Playing tamely with an isolated tale, Antisocial would never be asked to come in off the bench when superior living dead heavyweights are already on the field.  Antisocial misses the very opportunity it creates for itself by choosing to bite weakly as typical Armageddon terror instead of fiercely as savvy social media satire.” Ian Sedensky, Culture Crypt

“Overall, Antisocial is a solid Canadian horror film made for the Generation Y crowd and is surely able to crawl under the viewers’ skin as it deals with a frightening concept far too relevant in our self-induced, isolated digital world.” Cody Calahan, Dread Central

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