The Quiet Earth (1985)

This is a quirky little low-budget, 90-minute sci-fi drama out of New Zealand from 1985 in which Zac the scientist wakes up one day after having tried to commit suicide, to find that he appears to be the only animal on earth. And it's very much a film of two halves.

The initial concept is fascinating and thought-provoking as it engages the viewer in a mind game for themselves about how they would react given the same circumstances. We stay with Zac for a large part of the film, alone, as he tries to work out what's happened, how to make the most of the situation and how he might use his scientific knowledge to try to fix whatever has gone wrong.

Slowly but surely as Zac spends more and more time alone with the problem and the total freedom to do whatever he likes as the only animal on earth, he starts to lose his good mental health and descents into more and more bizarre behaviours, ultimately declaring himself god of Earth! What would we do? Would we be OK with that? Would we be resourceful enough to survive?

So it's interesting to see what he does and how he does it to survive the situation - it's a good job he's a scientist as he can turn his hand to many engineering tasks to keep things going, especially after the electricity runs out. This is by far the most interesting part of the film and it's a shame really that it didn't continue as it was for the whole story because, out of the blue, first one other person turns up, then another and it changes the tone of proceedings completely.

One of them is a man, the other a woman. The woman arrives first and she, too, was in a situation staring death in the face when 'the event' happened, so survived. Zac and Joanne bond readily and after a time end up 'being together', joining forces to try to find some way to help the earth out of its problem. Then along comes a bloke, who, similarly, survived because he was in a life/death situation when it happened.

The 'new' bloke (Api) then starts to challenge Zac for the attentions of Joanne and much of the emphasis turns to a kind of love/lust triangle as they work out their positions and male ego/testosterone comes to the fore, animal territorialism driving each to establish their position. And that kind of spoils things really. I think it might have worked much better if it just continued with a 'reflective' tone of man against isolation and loneliness. However, I'm not filmmaker!

Geoff Murphy is, directing, and alongside the late Bruno Lawrence who plays the lead, and couple of other writers, decide that this is the direction they wanted it to go. The three main players do a reasonable job, though Lawrence is certainly the more convincing and accomplished actor in the mix. Alison Routledge plays Joanne and Peter Smith, Api.

So we trundle along toward the finale, in which the sci-fi bit kicks in and there's something of an explanation as to what's gone on, wrong and we find out if Mr Boffin-Brain the scientist has been able to fix things - or the earth has been lost, as it was, for good. The final scene is somewhat thought-provoking in itself and to some degree worth wading through the second half of the film, by the time you have got half way anyway, to see.

Not a great film, but a really nice idea - which I think I would have preferred to have seen done a little differently. Anyway it's on one or two streaming services around just now if you fancy it.

Humane (2024)

Directed by the Canadian Caitlin Cronenberg in her first main film and based on an idea by writer/producer Michael Sparaga, this little low-budget thriller is quite good fun. It's a bit of a nutty idea, but certainly an interesting one!

The setup is a world where resources are running out, environmental collapse, population out of control - not enough to go round. So the governments of the world get together, close the borders and agree that they will have to cull their citizens by 20% each within a certain time. We're in America and there, people are offered $250,000 to be euthanised - the money then making their remaining family's lives better.

The family we spend pretty much all of the film with are wealthy and privileged, dad, step mum, four siblings (and a daughter of one of the siblings). They are successful people, in business, the media, arts and so on - all brought about by the family having money. One of the sons, it turns out, is adopted and has had drug problems.

Dad and step mum have decided that they are going to do the decent thing for the country, world and environment and signed up to the euthanasia scheme. We join the family as dad has organised a dinner party to tell them all the news and has lined up the mob (from the firm assigned by the government) to come round and do the job, that evening. Things go wrong when step mum disappears during the meal and the plan for two bodies from this family, this night, can't be cancelled. They need two bodies and it doesn't matter which, as long as they are from this family!

So you can imagine from hereon in what happens, with dad dead, step mum missing, as the four of them argue and fight tooth and nail to make sure that they are not the one to have to take step mum's place! The daughter is whisked away, incidentally, by the team, who don't deal with minors! The team are polite, well turned out, but ruthless in their goal if/when anyone steps out of line or tries not to comply with 'the law'. So that's about the backdrop of what's going on with the rest of the film depicting the fallout from their inter-negotiations and ensuing chaos.

Three of the four of them are decidedly unpleasant, with huge egos, money having carried all before them their whole lives, so we're encouraged to dislike all of them from the outset. There are some twists and turns along the way, but nothing you don't see coming, and it becomes a bit of a survival outing in the end, falling out, teaming up, testing the system and each other. All good fun with a bonkers idea, as I say.

The cast is mostly people I don't know very well, Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire (12 Monkeys, The Rig), Peter Gallagher (American Beauty, The O.C.), Enrico Colantoni (Contagion), Sebastian Chacon, Alanna Bale (Cardinal), Sirena Gulamgaus and Uni Park but they do a decent-enough job between them and keep the interest going. Thankfully there's very little handheld camera work, which there could have been - as they race around the big house full of staircases, corners, rooms and corridors. Pretty much all of the film is set in the house, so nicely claustrophobic - especially when the government team lock them in!

Some interesting ideas about/for the big wide world out there, turned into a nasty little thriller bringing out the worst in some rich folk with some gore thrown in here and there, but really not too much to worry about. I quite enjoyed it anyway. It's on Paramount+ as I speak and a couple of other streaming services in the UK.

The Host (2006)

I was watching a YouTube video the other day which included Quentin Tarantino reeling off a list of films that, since he'd been directing, he wished he'd made! Then I realised that one of them, this one, was a film by Bong Joon-ho that I'd completely missed out on! I was a fan of the film version of his Snowpiercer, the wonderful Parasite, the inventive Okja, gripping Memories of Murder and the grizzly Mother too, so this was sure to be a winner.

And it was! A very different kind of film about a monster terrorising the public in Seoul, and in particular one family (as far as the viewer is concerned), but with multiple layers underneath the obvious which the director was making some social-political-environmental statements about - particularly with regards to the American authorities and how they were behaving irresponsibly in Korea.

The monster is a huge kind of fish thing, very imaginatively created, with a head/mouth a bit like Ridley Scott's Alien's, but it also kind of looks like female genitalia as well! It's been created by scientists dumping chemicals in the river. (Anyone seen The Simpsons episode with the 3-eyed fish after Mr Burns had done similar?) Anyway, in amongst much mayhem, killings, rampaging and chaos, the little girl in our family-in-focus is whisked away by the monster and dumped into a secure area of the sewer alongside a few other 'captures' - some dead, some alive, by the looks of it.

The first part of the film is quite comic really as we get to know the bumbling members of the endearing family, interaction with each other and quirks. And funny, they are. When the creature appears and takes the young girl off however, the comic stuff, to some degree, drops away to be replaced by a drama about a determined family in crisis. They creatively break every rule in order to get her back from the creature, battling the authorities along the way who are trying to lock down the public amidst the chaos.

There's lots of thrills, chases and edge-of-the-seat suspense as we're encouraged very much to get alongside the quirky family. They often provide us with heart warming moments as we root for them in their quest! The performances are excellent right across the board but a special mention for dad, played by Song Kang-ho (from the aforementioned Parasite, Snowpiercer and Memories of a Murder, but also A Taxi Driver which I enjoyed very much, too). More familiar faces for those who follow the work of Bong Joon-ho pop up as he clearly liked to be loyal to his regular actors. Byun Hee-Bong as the grandad, Bae Doona as the olympic archer sister (you can imagine) and particularly Ko Ah-sung (Snowpiercer, Life on Mars) as the little girl, who was terrific throughout.

It's a thought-provoking 'creature-feature'(!) which leaps between the terror of what the creature is capable of, moving poinginancy of the impact on a nuclear family in the mix, thrills and spills of the chase, the fight with the authorities, suspense in dark, wet and unwelcoming sewers around a threatening river, a jump-scare or two and a whole ton more to really enjoy. No wonder Tarantino was jealous and wished he'd made it. An entertaining thrill-ride it is with some messages baked-in. I'm not really doing it justice here with my brief thoughts, so do see it! It's available via some streaming services in the UK as I write.

Blood Star (2024)

This first outing for director/writer Lawrence Jacomelli reminded me very much of Greg McLean's 2005 film Wolf Creek about a trio of backpackers heading off across Australia who bump into Mr Nasty who then terrorises them. This one's similar in tone, but is focused on a girl who is a petty criminal, heading across New Mexico's dirt and dust to get away from her abusive boyfriend.

We join the story in a flashback to a different girl who is covered in blood, staggering along a dirt road, being pursued by a man in a police car who stops when she falls to the ground, gives her a gun, offering her a 'last chance' before heading back to his car which he uses to forcefully put an end to her misery! Then we arrive at present-day and petty criminal girl Bobbie, who is driving her car long-distance. She keeps getting phone calls from her boyfriend and sister, but shrugs them off, wanting to be alone and left to escape her chaotic life.

She stops for petrol and whilst there, a cop (the same one as from the flashback) creeps around her, behaving suspiciously, flexing his power as a cop to make her respect him and, basically, acknowledge that she needs to not behave like the smart-arsed, over-confident independent girl she is, but toe the line - after all, he is a Sheriff, not 'officer'. He lets her go but pursues her devilishly, stopping her for speeding, then trumping up some ludicrous allegations and slapping a huge fine on her which he knows she can't pay.

This continues for a while. She starts to realise that this cop is actually a bit of a fruit-loop and tries to evade him. She ends up in roadside cafe where she gets a young waitress fired by her actions, then offers her a lift home in her car. The cop is still lurking around, behaving badly, and this is where things turn from nasty and suspicious into sinister, dark and outrageous - as the thriller shifts up a gear for the audience and down a lot of gears for poor Bobbie!

The cast, like the director/writer is somewhat inexperienced - TV work for some of them, the veteran, if there is one, being John Schwab (Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Zero Dark Thirty) as Sheriff Bilstein. Bobbie is played Britni Camacho and Amy, the waitress, by Sydney Brumfield. Camacho is the star of the show, in pretty much every scene, and pulls it off pretty well. Schwab turns from Mr Nasty to Mr Nice Guy to Mr Fruit-Loop somewhat convincingly and Brumfield, who isn't in it for long, does a fair job.

It's a fairly mindless road-movie/survival-thriller relying, like Wolf Creek, on the bonkers behaviour of a man around unsuspecting victims - but at least in the latter, there was some attempt at an explanation as to why what was going on, was so! Here, not so much - more simply a sadistic thrill-ride, if this is your thing! It runs for just over an hour and a half and there are a few scenes that are a bit gory, so beware, but not that many.

The setting might be more likely the star of the show with some creative close-focus cinematography. The landscape is barren, dry and hot - which has been shot nicely. There are a few plot holes, one big one at the end which I couldn't work out at all (nor find out about it online anywhere), but this is more about atmosphere, suspense and a growing anxiety as the audience gets alongside Bobbie - the only character really who is in any way developed throughout. I enjoyed it anyway and you can too as it's available via various streaming outlets if you fancy the genre.

Hold Your Breath (2018)

Otherwise known as A Breath Away, or Just A Breath Away - might be simplest to call it by its original French title, Dans la brume! I reported on my viewing of The Night Eats the World (2018) the other day and Dominique Rocher, who directed that, is credited with being a writer for this one. Confused already? Thankfully the film and story here is a tad simpler.

Whilst the former was a French Zombie film, Hold Your Breath shares some of its themes around the topic and tone of isolation. So another disaster movie set in Paris, but this time it's about a fog/mist/cloud which seeps up from under the ground following an earthquake. The mist rises towards near-rooftop level, so the trick is to get above it. If you don't, and you breath it in, you die. Unless you're a dog. Well, some breeds of dog. Apparently. Yes, there are some plot inconsistencies servicing some thrills later!

The family that the film focuses on comprises mum, dad and daughter who has an incurable disease (Stimberger Syndrome) and has to live in a techy-bubble to stay alive - which needs to be powered at all times. It feels as though the story is set a little in the future, but not a long way. Mum and dad are scientists, though it's never revealed in what field or capacity - for the purposes of the story, they're just brain-boxes!

Daughter Sarah's 'bubble' is located on the second floor where she lives with mum (dad seems to live across the way - we're not ever given any backstory on that either - whether they are separated or just choosing to live separately) but unfortunately, this is under the level of the mist. Fortunately, it doesn't matter as her bubble keeps the mist away from her. As long as she has power to keep it going. And therein lies the focus of the story, as the power goes out! There are batteries for backup, but not indefinitely - and they have to be regularly changed.

Mum and dad get together amidst the crisis and, as they can't stay on the second floor, head up to the top floor where a kindly old couple take them in and try to help them keep Sarah's bubble powered. They have a walkie-talkie link to Sarah from within a reasonable distance, so upstairs is fine. The characters don't know what's going on any more than the audience do - we're all kept in a similar bubble to Sarah's, in fact!

The thriller bit of the story unfolds as the parents have to dart across the city to get an air-tight suit for Sarah, in order to get her out of the bubble, building and city heading off to some relative's place on higher ground. Where, presumably, there's also another high-tech bubble for her to survive in once they get there! So mum and dad have to find oxygen, climb buildings, survive explosions, fall into the Seine, hold their breath when dashing between places when they have no oxygen, clamber over rooftops, deal with corrupt cops taking the law into their own hands, track down a lab where said suit is located - you get the idea. Most of it is a race against time and not getting trapped in the mist, so as to snuff it.

Having said all that, the film portrays the story at a fairly leisurely pace. There's no zombies lurking around as you might expect in this kind of film - just mostly dead bodies (staying dead!) and eerie, quiet, mist-filled streets full of wrecked cars and abandoned belongings. The eerie bit is done quite well, plenty of atmosphere, a bit of tension here and there in a nicely produced and presented story that almost ends up being a short 90-minute family drama rather than disaster flick.

I don't know any of the cast or crew, though I get the feeling I should know mum, played by Olga Kurylenko at least, as she was in a Bond film - Quantum of Solace. Romain Duris plays dad and Fantine Harduin, Sarah - who, surprisingly given the focus of the story, has the least screen-time and acting to do! In actual fact, the old couple upstairs are the most interesting characters played by Michel Robin (Amélie, A Very Long Engagement) and the late Anna Gaylor. They all do very well though and remain fairly convincing throughout.

It's a nice little film, short and sweet, which you can get engaged with as long as you're not looking too closely for the plot holes! A nice idea, fairly well done, which you can get on most streaming services now, including Roku and Tubi.

PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of January 2025

  ...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

Tech Addicts 2025

Season 1 Episode 1 - An Ayaneo Diffusion

Sunday 5th January

The wandering minstrels return to spoil your weekends again! Gareth and I launch into a 'seasonal' approach to podcasting - this, the first of the first batch of 10 for 2025. We go Walkie-talkies with Xiaomi, modulate our gaming gear, see Gemini Live live and float, ring the changes with Galaxy and Easily Diffuse our Linux experience! Loads more as usual, but a shorter runtime - let us know what you think of the new approach, shorter but more often! Available now in the usual places.

Phones Show Chat
Episode 835 - A Tale of Two...
Sunday 5th January

Jeremy Harpham joins Steve and I this week as we start off a fresh, New Year! We find out what he's been using, looking forward to, favouring - and get his take on our stuff too. Steve's awaiting the arrival of all sorts of new phones and accessories, whilst enjoying the retro stuff too, and I declare my Phone of 2024 whilst waiting for the Razer Phone to arrive, packed with LineageOS22! Time for plenty more as always, so do join us.

Tech Addicts 2025

Season 1 Episode 2 - Mecha Minds

Sunday 12th January

Gareth  and I are back again this week with a dip into all stuff Tech - mostly brought to us in and amongst CES 2025. Acer and Bosch, Mecha and LG, XBox and Legion - there's even space for outlying Oukitel and Brilliant Bargain Basement! Plus my first steps with Linux Mint Cinnamon and Gareth's Gaming Goodies! All available in the usual places now, so enjoy!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 836 - Triumph of the Midrange
Sunday 12th January

This week Steve and I welcome Ben Wood back again. We catch up on what’s going on at the Mobile Phone Museum, delve into the devices he’s been using, uncover his Phone of the Year for 2024 and get his take on all things tech. Loads more stuff, as always, including Nothing Phone (2a), Oppo, Honor, Lineage, Razer, ThinkPhone, Edge 50 Neo and that TCL 50 Pro NxtPaper again. Phew! Don’t miss it!

Projector Room

Episode 177 - Nosferatu's Milieu
Monday 13th January

Gareth and I are with you this time without Allan, as he's moving house - but we plough on regardless with a slightly different schedule and theme. We pick up on some 'specials' - Nosferatu, Black Christmas, Milieu, Short Films and our Picks of 2024 - good and bad! Plus Coming Soon and The Final Curtain. Hope you enjoy - let me know what the audio is like as it's the first time I've done the editing. Gulp!

Chewing Gum for the Ears

Episode 30 - Twenty Twenty Four

Steve and I sat down to share our thoughts on our picks of the albums released in 2024 today and the chat, with samples, is now available in the usual places, so do tune in if you have a spare 37 minutes!

Tech Addicts 2025

Season 1 Episode 3 - The TikTok Timebomb

Sunday 19th January

Gareth and I talk TikTok, Nintendo Switch 2, Brad Pitt, Canon's Webcam subscription, the Ion Boombox and, of course, Sex Toys! Bargains galore with a little banter mixed in. Do join us, now available in the usual places!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 837 - Ecosystem Twitchiness
Sunday 19th January

A Neo Duo! Steve and I welcome Ian Bundey back this week and find out what's been going on in his world of fast-paced-F1 and Gig mobile phone photography, amongst a load of other stuff of course. Me updating my Sony to Android 15 and it's Neo for the both of us - me with Moto and Steve DJI as he heads for the skies with a drone. Then it's feet back on the ground with the Nothing Phone 2a Plus and one last old Nokia (maybe the best). Do join us for an hour.

Whatever Works

Episode 220 - Ninja Raspberry Vomit!
Monday 20th January
Aidan and I are back to mould your Monday into something worth breathing in, so why not waste an hour with us as we Travel with John for a pee, Hammer it Smooth, expose the Simplicity of Selenium, Arc our Mechanical Nanu - and oodles more clap-trap like that! Available now in the usual places!

Tech Addicts 2025

Season 1 Episode 4 - The Galaxy of Terror

Sunday 26th January

Gareth and I debate Samsung’s recent Unpacked event showing off the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, S25 Ultra and S25 Edge, AI baked into the software, where Samsung stops and Gemini starts with Photo, Gallery and Audio Enhancements. Some time left to linger in Linux and a bombardment of Bargain Basement beauties!

Phones Show Chat
Episode 838 - Launching Notification Reader
Sunday 26th January

That's Malcolm Bryant's app and he joins Steve Nutt on the show with Steve and I as we delve into it and get the developer lowdown on its testing and evolution. All interesting nerdy/geeky stuff which we know you love! We touch on the Samsung S25 announcements, some phone accessories and declare. The Four Nerds await you!

Projector Room

Episode 178 - Survive The Bride!
Wednesday 29th January

Allan is still missing this time so Gareth and I are Men Behaving Badly, makin' it up as we go along! We Survive Hell in the Pacific, take a Fresh look at Phoenix Nights, tackle Darkman Before Sunrise - and 28 Years Later, turn Bambi into an Alien! All good fun, so do join us!

The Podcasts

PodHubUK - Phones Show Chat - The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat & The Phones Show - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Videos - PSC Classifieds - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Allan Gildea

The Night Eats the World (2018)

La nuit a dévoré le monde is a 2018 French Zombie film, though everyone's speaking English (not just dubbed) with hardly a French accent in sight! As with most Zombie films, it's all a bit far-fetched but this 90-minute one, directed by Dominique Rocher (Hold Your Breath) is somewhat different in focus, if not theme.

We join the story as our central character turns up a party, in a Parisian apartment in a tall townhouse, in full swing. Apparently he's the ex-boyfriend of the party's host, with a timely visit in order to 'collect his stuff'! He's kind of spoiling the general atmos, so she shuffles him into her workroom inviting him to help himself to his stuff. He's tired, gets bored and falls asleep in a chair.

The next morning he wakes up, still in said chair, and all is quiet. Until he opens the door and is faced with blood caked onto the walls of the rest of the apartment where the party was - and not a soul in sight. He wanders around wondering what on earth has happened to everyone, then when he opens the apartment's front door into the stairwell, all becomes clear - as a couple of zombies are sitting there, leaping into action to try to nosh him up with all speed! Thinking on his feet, he quickly shuts the door and locks himself in the apartment.

The chap in question is Sam, played by Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World, Oslo, August 31st), and we spend most of the rest of the film with him as the tone and focus of this unusual zombie film makes itself clear to us. It's not so much about the zombies (well, it is, or we wouldn't have a film here) but more about isolation as Sam barricades himself in the building - and his descent into a less than lucid state of mind.

Usually, as you might know if you read my stuff, I find zombie films funny - but this is just different. It's actually an attempt to demonstrate what it must be like for someone to spend weeks into months (we're never very clearly given the overall time frame, though he is counting the days off in the window dust initially) with no human contact and having to survive.

Eventually the water and electricity stops flowing so we spend time with Sam as he creatively finds ways to survive, still longing for human contact, getting lonelier and lonelier. He can see the living dead outside as he's got, by this time, the run of the whole building, isolating each apartment methodically, one by one. It also becomes clear that he is a very methodical person, mapping out his resources and foraging for supplies to keep himself alive.

A girl called Sarah turns up out of the blue - played very nicely by Golshifteh Farahani (Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge, Invasion, Paterson) - or does she, we wonder. He shoots her with a shotgun he has found in the building before realising that she's not a zombie - or does he, we wonder. By this stage he's descending further into a state of mind which might suggest that she doesn't really exist - more conjured up by his loneliness as he nurses her back to health, removing shotgun pellets - or does he?!

So yes, very different kind of zombie film it is, touching in places, some gore, guts, shooting and mayhem, but not a huge amount. The living dead look convincing enough but this is much more about the human spirit, isolation and survival. Do humans need other people around them? Can they survive without? Especially when holed-up with no chance of solutions, not knowing whether or not they are actually the only person alive!

Very well worth watching - it's on most of the UK streaming services by the looks of it now, so I recommend that you do. Don't be put off by the genre, it's much more than that.