DVD Review: THE COLLAPSED (2011)

THE COLLAPSED (2011) DVD

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment 
Region: 1 NTSC
Duration: 82 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1; Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with English Subtitles
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Justin McConnell
Cast: John Fantasia, Anna Ross


After a slightly ambiguous world-ending event a family of four find themselves scouring the countryside for supplies which brings them to an abandoned gas station where they hope to collect gasoline and snacks. While there the father spots a group of heavily armed men entering the building and the family abandon their vehicle and make the forested wilderness where they encounter other survivors of the apocalypse whom may or may not be cannibals and something otherworldly that's all together more sinister.

I do love a well-crafted apocalypse film, one I can throw myself into and think what would I do in that situation and what are these guys on-screen doing wrong that I could do better. That's something that I think I first encountered with George a. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) when I was eight years old  thinking what the Hell would I do and how awesome would it be to be holed-up in a frigging mall of all places. When I was eight that was appealing but now thirty years later when I step foot in a mall it feel like a soul-sucking apocalypse but for different reasons, now I loathe the mall.


Justin McConnell's film The Collapsed (2011) offers up some decent suspense and mystery for it's duration, it moves along a t a pretty good pace and there's a supernatural element to it that reminded me a bit of Gregg Holtgrewe's Dawning (2009), it gave the film a nice sense of paranoia and dread that amped up the finale. 

The acting in the film is pretty decent, maybe a bit short of great but definitely serviceable. These people are in a desperate and dire situation compounded by personal feelings. These are family members under a lot of stress, the tension is palpable and to that end it's pretty successful and pulls you in with some nice character moments. Now one of my main issues  are some suspect motivations that left me scratching my head wondering just what a few characters were thinking, but for the most part this was a very decent watch and nothing was so odd that it withdrew me from the film.

Special Features: 

- Feature length behind-the-scenes documentary "Apocalypse On A Budget: The Making of The Collapse"
- Two audio commentaries: director/writer/producer Justin McConnell and co-story/co-producer Kevin

Hutchinson; lead actor John Fantasia;
- Music Video: Rob Kleiner's "Devil In Disguise"
- Trailers
- Photo Gallery
- Original Score Jukebox and MP3 Album Download
- Original Screenplay
- Easter Eggs



Verdict: Not a perfect film but a thoroughly enjoyable watch and a well crafted apocalyptic indie-thriller with some sweet nail-biting moments. A definite rental at the very least and a probably a buy for the apocalyptic nuts out there. Good Stuff.  3.5/5