Writer/director B. Luciano Barsuglia (Zombie Farm) had a bright idea when writing and casting Impact Event. First, he ripped off The Road Warrior’s post-apocalyptic future and cast one of its stars Vernon Wells. Then he added the cannibals from The Hills have Eyes and cast Michael Berryman. That certainly creates some interesting expectations. But can the film meet them?
Ed (Vernon Wells, Lilith, The City Of Gold) is an astrophysicist with some doubts about the trajectory of an asteroid that’s supposed to have a near-miss with Earth. He sends some co-ordinates to Amanda (Margaret O’Brien, Meet Me In St. Louis, Little Women) for verification. Meanwhile, groups of preppers including ones led by Justice Outlaw (Richard Grieco, Art Of The Dead, Clinton Road) and Billy (Chris Giese) are hunkering down just in case. I should mention Billy’s bomb shelter is in an old funhouse.
Armageddon, however, turns out to be a lot easier on the effects budget than that. The survivors bicker and fight among themselves. Even killing each other for the good of the group. Meanwhile, Micheal Berryman (Shed Of The Dead, The Mad Hatter) and Barry Jay Minoff (The Tombs) are finding out that the inmates of a local prison have turned to cannibalism. And they eventually find their way to Billy’s shelter.
Are so many shitty movies getting released now because distributors figure everyone stuck at home is desperate for something new to watch? I’ve seen more crap in the last couple of weeks than I usually see in months. And Impact Event is among the worst.
None of the film’s name performers have more than five minutes of screen time. Or are in scenes with any of the main cast. Wells and O’Brien’s characters don’t interact with any of the other characters at all. Even by guest casting standards that’s bad.
Even if they had more screen time it wouldn’t have helped. Impact Event is a slow, talky mess with nothing going for it. The “impact event” does no visible damage to anything. The only effect we can see is the tinting of outside footage. And the bomb shelter just seems to be somebody’s basement. Their defence against radiation is a wooden door with reflective material duct-taped to it.
Worst of all, for something billed as an action/horror film, there’s little of either in Impact Event. There’s no onscreen cannibalism, or even chewed up bodies. And the final showdown is about five minutes long and is simply the bad guys being shot as they stumble through the funhouse. Apparently, the flashing lights and noise must have rendered them unable to defend themselves.
Impact Event is available on DVD and VOD from Wild Eye Releasing. You can check the film’s website for more information.