Carriers

Plot synopsis:
An infectious virus has spread worldwide, killing almost the entire population - this disease is spread by breath. Two brothers, Brian and Daniel "Danny" Green, along with Brian's girlfriend, Bobby, and Danny's school friend, Kate, are heading to Turtle Beach in the Southwestern United States, a secluded beach motel where they believe they can wait for the viral pandemic to die out and so they can start a new life. They strictly follow a set of rules that they believe will keep them all alive and stop them from becoming infected.
On their way there, they meet a man, Frank Holloway, and his infected young daughter Jodie, who are stranded in the middle of a deserted road due to their Suburban running out of fuel. After attempting to drive away from them, their car breaks down. The four end up returning to Frank in order to acquire his car, and are forced to take Frank and Jodie to a nearby high school where a serum for the pandemic is rumored to have been developed. Upon arrival they discover that the serum does not work, and the only doctor still alive is about to commit suicide with a remaining group of infected children (whom he plans to kill through non-voluntary euthanasia).
Meanwhile, Bobby is accidentally infected by Jodie while trying to help her when she coughs blood on her. She hides her infection from the others by wiping her face and hiding her blood covered shirt. Jodie tells her father that she needs the toilet, however she can't walk there alone due to the illness. Frank carries Jodie to the toilet, telling Danny that he knows he's a good person. However, Brian leaves Frank and Jodie behind and takes their car.
After this, they stop at a golf course hotel. Brian almost becomes infected after nearly slipping into a swimming pool containing the body of an infected man, however Danny manages to grab him in time. Bobby talks herself into believing she is not infected, as she is still unsure that Jodie's blood infected her. However, despite Bobby's efforts to prevent it, Brian kisses her and inadvertently infects himself.
Bobby berates Kate for believing her parents may still be alive, and suddenly a small group of armed survivalists, who are using the golf course as a base, ambush and capture the group. After a tense Mexican standoff, they declare their intent to keep the girls. As they force the girls to disrobe to check them for infection, they discover Bobby's rashes and bruises and force them away at gunpoint. Kate stresses that they will end up dead if Bobby continues to travel with them, and Brian ends up leaving a weeping Bobby behind at a deserted gas station.
They almost run out of fuel but encounter two women heading in the opposite direction to them. After Brian blocks the road with their SUV, Danny asks for help, stating that he has a pregnant wife in the car and that he is a fellow Christian, but they refuse. A desperate Brian shoots them for their fuel when they try to drive away, and ends up being shot in the leg himself. Danny breaks into a seemingly abandoned house in search of medical supplies to treat his brother's wound, and he is forced to shoot a stray dog that attempts to attack him.
Danny soon discovers that his brother is also infected after tending to Brian's wound. Kate urges Danny to leave Brian whilst he is sleeping, but as the two try to leave Brian wakes up and it is discovered that he has the car keys. Brian refuses to give Danny the correct car keys unless he can continue to travel with them, despite Danny's pleas. Brian admits that he doesn't want to end up alone like the rest of the infected and tells Danny to shoot him if he wants the keys. At Brian's urging, Danny shoots Brian and burns his mask and infected body. Afterwards, Danny and Kate reach Turtle Beach.

Tags: dark, cruelty, murder, violence, flashback, action, suspenseful, home movie

Review:
There are a few tense moments, but overall, the film is a tragedy.Four young people are traveling together after most of humanity is wiped out after an unexplained outbreak of a fatal, and highly contagious disease: Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci), a would-be Yale student, if it weren't for the epidemic, his brother Brian (Chris Pine), who's a self-proclaimed jerk, Brian's girlfriend, Bobby (Piper Perabo), and another friend, Kate (Emily VanCamp).
Chris Pine (you might have seen him in a little movie called "Star Trek" by J.J. Abrams) & Piper Perabo star in a very low key Horror movie, that doesn't even try to make you believe it has any big action scenes in it.
It's more about the characters and how they react to certain situations.Quite a few people were appalled by the fact, that there is not that much happening in the movie, but I liked it, because it was slow moving, because it took it's sweet time.
Instead, it is unfortunately, just another viral pandemic flick.Brian (Chris Pine), his brother Danny (Lou Pucci) and their two female friends Bobby (Piper Perabo) and Kate (Emily VanCamp) are your four typical just-out-of-college kids who are on the road to nowhere, literally.
After a viral outbreak incapacitates almost the entire population of the United States and potentially the world, they decide to hit the road and hopefully find somewhere to stay or somebody to engage with who is free of the virus.'Carriers' would be more aptly placed in the drama genre than the horror or thriller section of the local video store as nothing as note actually takes place in regards to the latter genres.
And it's how the characters engage with these various situations which they encounter along their journey, and this manages to breathe a little life into this heavily deflated film.Chris Pine, pre Star Trek, gives a brilliant performance as the brother who has had the emotional consciousness beaten out of him throughout the pandemic to the point the where the survival of himself and his younger brother is the only objective.
While Lou Pucci, who portrays Brian's younger brother Danny, also pulls out an equally inspiring performance as the younger brother who is constantly fighting with his conscience with regards to the tough decisions that Brian has to make.If Alex and David Pastor were given the opportunity to go back and shoot around thirty-to-forty minutes worth of extra footage, then 'Carriers' would have the potential to be a very good film.
Unlike most virus flicks, 'Carrier' focuses on the emotional and psychological aspect of the survivors especially their struggle when they have to leave one of their own behind (or even commit the act of taking their life) in order to ensure their own survival and the despair of the soon-to-be-deceased after they have been abandoned on their own to die a slow painful death.
In a world devastated by an outbreak, Brian (Chris Pine), his girlfriend Bobby (Piper Perabo), his brother Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci) and their friend Kate (Emily VanCamp) are heading to a beach where the brothers spent vacations in their childhood and they expect to be a sanctuary.
Further, they lose their humanity in their fight for survive."Carriers" is another "deadly virus genre" movie that uses the same premise of dozens of films and maybe the greatest difference is that there are no zombies in the plot.
Well fortunately, "Carriers" manages to be an exception to the rule of PG-13 horror sucking.The film deals with two men and two women-Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci), his brother Brian (Chris Pine), Kate (Emily Van Camp) and Bobby (the usually likable Piper Perabo)-who are all headed to the beach.
Like i said earlier this is a well acted and often suspenseful movie about 4 young people just trying to survive a serious viral outbreak and get to the ocean where they aren't certain is clean but its where the two brothers grew up and would be a nice place to end if it comes to that.A good watch!.
I liked the general premise but every step of the story is driven plot turns which feel more and more forced and only seemingly take place to get the story as far as the MacGuffin, in this case a secluded beach where the characters will be able to hide from disease and humans alike.On top of that the characters of the brothers become annoyingly cliché as each lives up to their sensitive-liberal-brain/makes-the-hard-decisions-conservative-brawn stereotypes.
This was easily the best film at frightfest.I absolutely loved it!Chris Pine ( Captain James T Kirk himself!) gives a terrific performance in this haunting horror drama which is genuinely It does what so many movies ( romero's diary of the dead, 28 weeks later, the zombie diaries etc) tried to do and failed.
To all intents and purposes, Carriers really isn't that much of a horror film, it's more a survivalist, character based, road movie.
After an infectious virus has decimated the Earth, two brothers (Chris Pine/Lou Taylor Pucci) and their two lady companions (Piper Perabo/Emily VanCamp) are heading to Turtle Beach in the hope that in isolation there they can ride out the epidemic and start afresh.What follows is that they encounter a man on the road with his sick daughter, and their plans then go astray.
Naturally the virus isn't the only thing to be fearful of, there's the other virus, that of the human condition in survival situations...Having sat on the shelf for three years, Carriers came a bit late in the day to make a telling mark in a sub-genre of horror that has tapped into our new age fear of the virus.
Four young adults ride cross country in the midst of a devastating viral pandemic, finding themselves sidetracked by a number of deadly threats and inescapable tragedies on their way to what they believe could be their only safe haven in all of America - their mostest favourite childhood holiday location EVER!!!Yaaaaay.Instead, they fall foul of everything that could possibly go wrong and whine about it endlessly until they get booted off set/die.'Carriers' at first and final glance is a basic, often clichéd and unoriginal post-apocalyptic flick aimed at the mainstream and especially kids aged 15 to 25; exactly what it is at final glance.Oddly enough, though, for how absurdly pretentious the story is, the film's production values are pretty impressive for a project of it's size.I just got the impression the directors are the type of people who frequently fantasise about the end of the world and their part in it, to the point that they finally had to indulge in a spot of film making based upon said wet dreams...I must however also give it credit for how organic it is, relying on some quality old-school stunts and practical special effects and also sporting (a few) actors that can act.
It's pretty vacant.'Carriers' tells a story that has been contrived countless times over the last thirty years or so and whereas it's well directed - though the two-man directing job is wasted - the story is muddled, there is little context and the dialogue makes up the majority of the cliché factor.Chris Pine (pre-Star Trek) stars as Brian, the alpha male (don't worry, he'll point that out a few times) and older brother of two, headed for the beach they used to visit when they were kids, where they hope to sit out the destructive effects of a worldwide plague.
It's just predictable and the ending you wait so long for is like the filmmakers having flipped you the bird (crappy end statement that tries to be arty and reflective and just wastes your time).If anything, 'Carriers' makes for a good educational film for media production students on how to make stupid look good enough to fool people with low standards.
For sure Carriers does not push boundaries or invents the wheel new, but it is a very good contribution and beats easy 90% of the genre's movies and got some known actors (starring Chris Pine, Piper Perabo, Emily VanCamp).
Let's discuss the premise " A virus spreads through out the world and a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary only to discover the virus isn't the only thing to threaten them " Hey sounds a bit like a certain British horror film from about ten years ago directed by Danny Boyle .
Not a lot happens incident wise , those hoping for a horror film will be disappointed , those hoping for zombie horror will be doubly disappointed , those scared and depressed by post apocalypse fiction ( Hello Mr Moo ) will be too depressed to enjoy it but those interested in this genre will greatly respect CARRIERS for being an American movie that examines kinship and friendship in the face of adversity without resorting to hyperactive living dead and biker gangs.
unlike outbreak this film is so dis-Hollywood, it presents to you the human nature at its worst, the worst dilemma's you can think about, the ultimate fear of disease and death and a lot of other big conflicts of life, but in a realistic manner, no monkeys, no army cover-up, no great heroic moments, just plain reality.in the past years horror had relate itself with cheap and cheesy acting, story-line, effects and off-course, a lot of fake blood and chopped human organs.
which of course, goes tits-up.However, despite the odd moment of "ish" acting, the story moves along at a decent pace, moral questions are asked in the struggle to survive which becomes increasingly desperate as they meet others in similar situations.The story, whilst not overly original is good, it makes you wonder "what would I do" and in such cases, what happens is what is likely to happen and as such adds weight to the film and how it captures you ....
It's a shame when someone gets a film made without all the usual Hollywood ado that usually comes along with a story like this when it ultimately fails to entertain in any meaningful way on it's own merits.In this movie we don't get the usual CGI enhanced money shots of thousands dying, dead lying akimbo along expansive city vistas, or even zombie like infected shambling along (or running willy-nilly) chasing our stories protagonists as one would expect.
And this would be a good thing if the movie itself didn't get itself quickly mired down in the drudgery of predictability and a need for every scene to be drawn out well beyond it's welcome on the screen.Basically at it's heart it's a road trip movie trying to transcend the usual coming of age angst and self-discovery learned along the way storyline by hiding itself inside of a coming of the end of the world angst and self-discovery of hate and loneliness learned along the way storyline.I really wished I could have liked this movie, as the story seemed to be fairly novel on the surface.
A group of four friends: brothers Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Brian Green (Chris Pine), as well as the latter's girlfriend Bobby (Piper Perabo) and Kate (Emily VanCamp) pack up and head away towards a secluded beach, where they hope to live through the ordeal.
In order to survive the journey they agree on a set of basic rules, including one stating that the infected are already dead...A movie overflowing with potential and possibility, especially thanks to some crisp performances by Chris Pine and Piper Perabo.
Meanwhile the real strengths are in the moral dilemma caused by the situation and staying on the route of a survival thriller focused on the drama and character interaction would have done "Carriers" a world of good.The movie did bring about several poignant scenes (one memorable one includes a father and his sick daughter), where Brian, brutally executing the agreed plan, collides with Danny and the rest of his comrades over issues of right and wrong.
Unusually pretty Piper Perabo and Chris Pine (of Star Trek fame) leads an excellent small group of unknown actors in a well directed virus survival film.However, Carriers is simply an anomaly, there's no gloss, it has the spirit of big budget 'The Road'.
Some disaster movies at least paint a clever picture: Children of Men, 12 Monkeys, but usually the message is just "people will do anything to survive, all is dark and sad and purposeless, we should all be ashamed of ourselves".Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of a story that explores throwing off the system of social order and testing people's mettle in the face of horror, and I do believe some people would act like this film portrayed, but sadistic idiots aside, I seriously doubt society would just dissolve into every man for himself, that's just insulting..
Stewart), but in cinema, I always enjoyed the concept of an almost empty planet Earth, whether it is done with minimalistic images (like in the Mad Max saga) or visualized with epic special effects (like The Day After Tomorrow).I do not know if I enjoy those stories due to the latent misanthropy which makes me yearn a free of human infection planet Earth, or if simply because it is a provocative concept, which many directors and screenwriters have taken advantage of in order to examine the humanity on its purest condition, reduced to the fight for survival and the preservation of the species.Anyway, the film Carriers belongs to that sub-genus, and even though it did not leave me totally satisfied, I think it is enough interesting in order to deserve a recommendation.Due to the coverage Carriers had in the magazine Fangoria, I expected to find a post-apocalyptic horror film at the style of Resident Evil: Extinction or (with a lot of luck) the general work of director George A.
Romero.Now, after having watched it, I think it is much more precise to describe Carriers as an intense drama, because its screenplay ignores the fantasy in order to completely focus on the decay of modern humanity, and the replacement of the "civilization" for a values system in which the compassion and the altruism became into obsolete and almost dangerous artifacts, since they obstruct the objective of survival with emotions.So, before watching this movie, you do not have to expect to see battles against zombies, head-shots, cannibalism or supernatural elements.Carriers limits itself to reflect (with success) one of the most basic fears expressed in fantastic cinema: the man is the man's worst enemy.However, I have to say I lead to all those conclusions during the second half of the film.During the first half, I was upset by the stupidity from the characters, their irritating attitudes and the lack of logic from the screenplay.For example, who chooses an elegant Mercedes Benz as a vehicle to explore a post-apocalyptic world?
In the end, there are many similar scenes, in which the creation of the drama sacrifices the consistence from the screenplay.For the rest, the performances are adequate, and the atmosphere of isolation and aridity is well created.Despite its fails, Carriers is an interesting movie, and I recommend it if you wanna have a good time of post-apocalyptic suspense.Besides, it creates good expectations for the future work of co-directors Álex and David Pastor, who made their debut with this movie..
It had descent camera work, nice photography for it's budget (unfortunately, it doesn't look much different then any other modern movie) and acting is rather good, especially from Christopher Meloni who plays Frank and Chris Pine as Brian.but then comes the script...
Second, characters yet again keep telling about isolation since most of the world's population is dead, yet again, much like with the infection, we don't see or feel that, and since most of the time characters are just driving in their car, we might as well think they are on just a road trip, not trying to survive the apocalypse.Some other movies have done the same concept way better this exact same promise (look up "28 Days Later", where when one of the characters screams "Wolf!" you really believe there's a wolf and danger that comes with it).
Certainly, Chris Pine is one of the most unappealing leads I've seen in a while (he acts as pretty much the same type of one-dimensional hot-headed jerk that he played in STAR TREK) and the rest barely get a look in; Emily Van Camp, who might well be the best actor present, has about all of ten lines to contend with.Like I said, I love post-apocalypse moviesbut this non-starter is nothing more than a test of patience..
To survive, they live by a set of rules of their own making: Avoid anyone with the disease, trust no one (not even your friends/family), immediately sterilize anything a carrier touches and realize that anyone with the disease is already dead.The four youths are Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci), his brother Brian (Chris Pine), his girlfriend Bobby (Piper Perabo) and Danny's school friend Kate (Emily VanCampo).
As far as performances go, Chris Pine as Brian and Lou Taylor Pucci as Danny were fine, as were Piper Perabo as Bobby and Emily VanCamp as Kate.The main problem I have with this film is the character Brian is such an ass-hole that I found it very hard to sympathise with him.
Four survivors—Brian (Chris Pine), his girlfriend Bobby (Piper Perabo), his younger brother Danny (Lou Pucci), and Kate (Emily VanCamp)—attempt to get to the coast where they hope to ride out the pandemic at the deserted beach-side hotel where the brothers spent their holidays as kids.I love apocalyptic horror films that deal with virulent diseases wiping out humanity, the fear factor heightened by the very real possibility of such an occurrence.
Brothers Danny (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Brian (Chris Pine) are traveling in a viral apocalyptic world with Bobby (Piper Perabo) and Kate (Emily VanCamp).