The Plague (film)
Encyclopedia
The Plague is a 2006 horror film
directed by Hal Masonberg and written by Masonberg and Teal Minton; it was also co-produced by Clive Barker
.
. During this state, the children experience seizures twice a day and seem to develop super human strength. By 1993, all the children wake up, hellbent on killing all adults. Things get even worse when the adults realize the children have a sort of collective brain
—what one learns, they all learn. The children get smarter by the hour, first they dismantle the engines in almost every car and set up road blocks to stop the adults from escaping. Then they learn how to use firearms. The children also take the souls of the ones they kill as a part of deliverance. The adults must find a way to stop them before it's too late.
.
A prominent recurring image in the film is a dogeared copy of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath
. The plot of the film adopts ideas and structure from Steinbeck's novel, beginning with the release of Tom Russel from prison, returning to a home immersed in intolerable misery, stumbling from disaster to disaster, and culminating in a kind of hope for redemption that may some day compensate for the horror that has gone before.
DVD
was released September 5, 2006. In addition to this release, there is also an unreleased cut of the film known as The Plague: Writer's & Director's Cut.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Hal Masonberg and written by Masonberg and Teal Minton; it was also co-produced by Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
.
Plot
In 1983, simultaneously one day all of the world's children under the age of nine fall into a catatonic state. For the next ten years, every child who is born, is born in a state of catatoniaCatatonia
Catatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
. During this state, the children experience seizures twice a day and seem to develop super human strength. By 1993, all the children wake up, hellbent on killing all adults. Things get even worse when the adults realize the children have a sort of collective brain
Group mind (science fiction)
A group mind, hive mind or group ego in science fiction is a single consciousness occupying many bodies. Its use in literature goes back at least as far as Olaf Stapledon's science fiction novel Last and First Men ....
—what one learns, they all learn. The children get smarter by the hour, first they dismantle the engines in almost every car and set up road blocks to stop the adults from escaping. Then they learn how to use firearms. The children also take the souls of the ones they kill as a part of deliverance. The adults must find a way to stop them before it's too late.
Cast
- James Van Der BeekJames Van Der BeekJames William Van Der Beek, Jr. is an American television, film, and stage actor, known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in The WB series Dawson's Creek...
as Tom Russel - Ivana MiličevićIvana Milicevic-Early life:Miličević was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Croatian family, the daughter of Tonka, a homemaker, and Damir Miličević, a slaughterhouse worker and entrepreneur. She emigrated to the United States at the age of five and was raised in Michigan...
as Jean Raynor - Brad HuntBrad HuntBrad Hunt is an American actor born in Moberly, Missouri.-Filmography:*Just Add Water as Denny*The Tripper as Hank*The Plague as Sam Raynor*The Darwin Awards as Stan*Lucky 13 as Zach Bader...
as Sam Raynor - Joshua CloseJoshua CloseJoshua Close is a Canadian actor.-Filmography:*The Pacific as Edward Sledge*The Dead Sleep as Tim*Diary of the Dead as Jason*Full of It as Kyle Plunkett...
as Kip - Brittany Scobie as Claire
- Bradley Sawatzky as Nathan Burgandy
- John P. ConnollyJohn P. ConnollyJohn P. Connolly is an American actor and the former Executive Director of Actors' Equity Association. Connolly served in this position from February 2007 until November 2009, after serving six years as the President of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists .As a Union leader and...
as Sheriff Cal Stewart - Dee Wallace as Nora
- John Ted Wynne as Dr. Jenkins
- Arne McPherson as David
Background
The story is somewhat similar to the 1960 British film Village of the DamnedVillage of the Damned (1960 film)
Village of the Damned is a 1960 British science fiction film by German director Wolf Rilla. The film is a fairly faithful adaptation of the novel The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. The lead role of Professor Gordon Zellaby was played by George Sanders. This film was #92 on Bravo's 100 Scariest...
.
A prominent recurring image in the film is a dogeared copy of John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962....
. The plot of the film adopts ideas and structure from Steinbeck's novel, beginning with the release of Tom Russel from prison, returning to a home immersed in intolerable misery, stumbling from disaster to disaster, and culminating in a kind of hope for redemption that may some day compensate for the horror that has gone before.
Distribution
The Region 1DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
was released September 5, 2006. In addition to this release, there is also an unreleased cut of the film known as The Plague: Writer's & Director's Cut.
External links
- The Plague Official Site