‘Dead Air' (2009)

Ever since I read Gary Braunbeck's 'We Now Pause for Station Identification' (which you can read Here), I've been fascinated by the whole idea of being stuck in a radio station, reporting on the zombie apocalypse outside (because you're stuck inside and you may as well talk about something...) and wondering the whole time, is anybody actually listening...?

With that in mind then, 'Dead Air' was always going to be a film that I ended up watching but, as is always the case with me, life completely got in the way and it wasn't until last night that I finally got round to settling down and giving it a watch.

Not only is 'Dead Air' a short film but I've got about a million work related things to get done today so apologies in advance for a review that will be on the short side. If you do take one thing away though, it's that you should give this movie a chance if you get the chance. It's not a bad movie at all...

Logan Burnhardt goes to work for his shift as a popular radio talkshow host while at a nearby stadium, terrorists have released a deadly toxin into the building’s ventilation system. The radio station begins receiving reports fof a disturbance from callers and soon see what is going on for themselves as infected people gain entrance to the building killing whatever they can. Logan determines to keep the show on the air as the city degenerates into anarchy. However, not only are his family at risk but the terrorist leader enters the building with demands of his own. Will Logan and his team live to see out the night?

I’m a little hazy on whether this is an actual zombie movie or not; it looks like some of the ‘infected’ come back to life, after being killed, while some just seem to stay dead. I’m calling it a zombie movie but am open to having my mind changed here… ;o)

From now, the definition of the phrase ‘low budget’ should always come with a picture of ‘Dead Air’ next to it. Everything looks like it was done on the cheap with most of the action tied to a couple of locations (the radio booth mostly) but this actually lends ‘Dead Air’ a sense of claustrophobia that really adds to the growing urgency that the characters feel. This in turn makes the plot flow very tightly and smoothly, ‘Dead Air’ is a movie full of purpose and it’s a movie that’s very easy to get into and keep watching. It’s a bit of a shame that the low budget doesn’t quite work in the same way as far as the ‘infected’ go; these just look like a bunch of extras running round with a little blood on them. You can’t have it all though…

‘Dead Air’ is a tight little thriller then with more than one plot point needing to be resolved. Once you think things are on the home straight, something else comes along that our ‘heroes’ need to resolve and the pace ramps up again. I love it when things fit together neatly so particularly liked the way that the growing paranoia of the radio crew ties in so neatly with the ‘Paranoia’ theme of the radio show itself. Unfortunately though, what is also really striking about ‘Dead Air’ is how dated it is (or not dated at all, I’m not sure…) in its reliance on lazy ‘Muslim Terrorists’ trope. When you’re looking at something speculative, it always strikes me as odd to go for the ‘cartoon villain’ approach when you could keep on being speculative and really make it stand out in a good way. It’s a sour note in what is otherwise a very watchable movie.

The ending is a little bit of an anti-climax (like we never saw that coming…) but ‘Dead Air’ was, on the whole, a lot of fun to watch with Bill Moseley and Patricia Tallman putting some eye catching performances. I’ve heard people say that this is a better film than zombie classic ‘Pontypool’, another film that I haven’t managed to watch yet. Oh well, that’s tonight’s viewing sorted…