[7]

Director Bruce McDonald does a commendable job building tension and suspense in a movie that takes place almost entirely in one room with four actors. Think Talk Radio meets 28 Days Later. The film is also a terrific showpiece for character actor Stephen McHattie, who stars as Grant Mazzy, a disgruntled shock radio DJ stuck in a small Canadian town. The film is at its best during the rising action, as Mazzy reports live about a series of freakish riots that are breaking out all over town. Mazzy’s reports get more ghastly and the film gets more interesting, basking in shades of Orson Welles’ infamous “War of the Worlds” broadcast.

Unfortunately, the tension starts to fizzle once the film begins explaining itself. (Isn’t that always the case?) The explanation is foreshadowed, but still seems to come out of left field. I suspect the explanation is meant to be the fresh twist component of what is essentially a rehash of the old zombie apocalypse scenario. But when you build up terror so well and execute a classic horror trope so superlatively, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.