By Jamie Brownlie
The comments on a DVD cover can be very distracting. A reference to a movie we love can set our expectations high, higher than they have any right to be. They can also make us give pause as we hit play on the DVD player. For me, the cover of They Will Outlive Us All managed to do both. The single comment on the front of the case compares it to both Evil Dead and Cabin Fever, two movies I couldn’t have more opposing feelings about. Luckily (or unluckily, as your tastes may be) it doesn’t exactly bring to mind either of them.
New York City is fucked. It’s 2016 and in the years since Hurricane Sandy the city has been hammered by more than a dozen hurricanes. Margot (Jessi Gotta, who also co-wrote and produced) and Daniel (Nat Cassidy) live in the middle of the shit storm. The city is essentially dead. Running water isn’t guaranteed, there’s government mandated curfews and on top of all that, there’s been a series of strange and unexplained deaths in their apartment building. All the roommates want to do is drink, smoke dope and watch horror movies, but the vermin in the building have other plans.
Where do I begin with this movie? I’m having a hard time coming up with anything to say about it. It’s not a bad movie, that would make the review process easy. Anyone can point out the flaws in something. The problem is that it’s also not a great movie. And while the good outweighs the bad, the overall quality, unfortunately, lies somewhere in the troublesome middle.
This is a true micro-budget film, with all the good and bad that comes with the term. No budget means bad special effects, of which there are very few. The first mutant bug doesn’t hit the screen until around the 30 minute mark, which in a 73 minute film is a fairly late arrival. When it does arrive it is a hilarious sight to see. Happily, being a comedic horror with very, very few horror elements, it actually works for the movie. I mean, what’s more comedic than a huge, largely static, plastic cockroach with a poorly mechanized head? Not much, really.
Thankfully, a lot of the other micro-budget shortcomings are absent from the film. The sound is great – all the dialog is clear and crisp and the horrible background music you find in many low budget films is largely absent. Also, the film looks good and is well lit and shot. Even the scenes shot in a darker environment are well lit, avoiding one of the more annoying low budget pitfalls.
The story itself is unfortunately decidedly middle of the road. While the setting is new, the journey covers well explored territory. The mutant vermin idea, whether rats, bats, bugs or slugs, has been done more times than I can or care to count. A quick Google search will bring up countless articles and lists of creepy-crawly themed horror movies, most of which do it better than this one. Fortunately, as I said, the story is middle of the road, so with the bad there definitely comes some good. Gotta does a good job with the writing, managing to keep the dialog witty and fast with more than a few laugh out loud scenes. Some of the comedic scenes fall flat but the majority work more often than not.
Jessi Gotta and Nat Cassidy do a solid job in what is essentially a two person movie. Neither are going to be winning any Oscars anytime soon, but both are charismatic and quirky enough to make them watchable in a film like this. Plus, Jessi Gotta is a cute redhead and I’m a sucker for a cute redhead. Gingers may not have souls but they do have my heart. Yes, I’m shallow. Sue me.
As to the Evil Dead and Cabin Fever references on the DVD cover: There are two scenes/shots that are very Raimi-esque in style. Director Patrick Shearer is obviously a Raimi fan and borrows (re: steals) Raimi’s techniques with good, if slightly derivative, effect. As for the Cabin Fever reference? I think it’s a reach but there is the smallest amount of body horror that might, and I stress might, be seen as similar to Cabin Fever, but it’s a reach.
All in all, The Will Outlive Us All isn’t a bad movie and you could do far, far worse when it comes to micro-budget fare. If you’re fond of micro-budget fare, which I am, it’s worth a watch but I’d be hesitant to recommend it as a DVD purchase. I will say, however, that I think Jessi Gotta has tremendous potential and I look forward to seeing what she does next.
They Will Outlive Us All is available now on DVD and VOD in the US, from Wild Eye Releasing.