Fear Friday ~ Love Apocalypse Style or Hey, Aren't There Supposed To Be Zombies?

It's Friday and time for another Fear Friday here at the Laughing Vixen Lounge Blog. All month long our movies are finding fear out on the open road with a Road Trip theme. Last week's film tried to freeze us to death but this week's takes us back to the sunny desert for a joyride through a highly infected world. Checklist for your next road trip... bleach, surgical mask, disposable gloves, duct tape, plastic wrap and plenty of extra gas! Good luck out there!!!

Every Friday at the Laughing Vixen Lounge Blog is Fear Friday. Fear Fridays are a celebration of all films spooky. Horror is a very broad genre and the Lounge loves it all. Each Friday you will find a review of a different film. These can range from Classic Horror (black and white and cheesy), Thrillers (suspense, jumps and a good mystery), outright Horror (chop chop, slash slash, die die) and anything else in between.

So pop some popcorn, kill the lights and enjoy tonight's selection. And please, share your comments on the film. Bad or good let me know what you thought of it. And now, my little ghouls and dolls, the Laughing Vixen Lounge Blog is proud to present this week's film.


Fear Friday - Carriers

Tagline - The rules are simple. You break them, you die...


Directed by David and Alex Pastor (The Last Days) and released on September 4, 2009 by Paramount Vantage (Rated PG-13). Two couples, in a world with a deadly pandemic, try to cross the country in hopes of a safe place. But as in most apocalyptic worlds... this is no easy task!

Our story begins in an already pandemic effected United States. Brian (Chris Pine) and his girlfriend Bobbi (Piper Perabo) travel across the country along with Brian's brother Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Kate (Emily VanCamp). The brothers have a very simple set of rules they abide by... at all costs. Following these will hopefully bring them safely to their destination, a beach oasis from their childhood. Unfortunately they are not the only ones trying to stay alive in this post apocalyptic world. 

This week's film is a road trip through a desolate world where much of the population has been killed off by a deadly pandemic. While the cause of the virus is never mentioned one horribly wrong scene early on gives a huge nod to the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003. And, while many people have died, there are still plenty left for our main four to run into. Some are desperate, some are good and some are not. Either way you learn quickly that no one in this new world wants to stop for anyone unless there is no other choice.

The story is a simple yet effective look at the possibility of a world without order. Because of this our main characters have create a few simple rules they live by to keep themselves safe. Unfortunately these rules are not always so easy to follow. But, as in most of these types of movies, people find themselves capable of many things when it comes to self preservation! Atmosphere plays a large part in this film. Choosing to have our characters driving though mainly desert country is a great choice as it adds to the empty and desolate feel of this post apocalyptic world.

As always the people that are left are more of a threat than the sick/infected/undead. That's what I find the most scary about these stories is how quickly the human race will turn on each other. I also find it refreshing to watch this genre without having any Zombies roaming around. I do love the Walking Dead but it's more realistic to take out that factor and leave the fear to our own doings. And I'm sure some will be thinking Zombie Land since this one also have rules. I read that this one was released before the other but had a very limited release. Though I have yet to see Zombie Land I am pretty sure this varies greatly from it.

With a PG-13 rating the scare and gore factor is pretty low. It's really more about atmosphere and the human condition than outright horror. But that doesn't mean it's not still a rather unsettling movie with some thrills along the way. I did read that the full R rated version was released on DVD in other countries. Here in the US they only released the PG-13 version on DVD.

Carriers is available on most DVD and DVD Streaming services.


Take a look at the original trailer ***If you don't want a great deal of the story pointed out to you I would suggest not watching past the 1:02 mark***


Sorry, no trivia for this one.