This cheap end-of-the-world quickie effort from American International Pictures is now seemingly all but forgotten, but this is a surprisingly effective little movie that benefits from a strong central performance and direction by Hollywood Golden Era legend Ray Milland. This is obviously low budget, with the camera never focusing on anything but the immediate action, allowing the audience to use their imagination to experience the wider picture. But more than anything, this is a character study of an all-American family trying to hold any remnants of civilisation together in the midst of social decay and lawlessness.
Like Val Guest's excellent The Day The Earth Caught Fire just a year before, the outlook here is very gloomy. But Panic in Year Zero! is the reserve side of The Day The Earth Caught Fire's coin, offering a right-wing alternative, embodied in Harry's instant tooling up and viewing every outside the family as an enemy. It is here that the films fails, where some more character building and intimate moments (especially between Harry and Ann) could have provided more insight into Harry's narrow view. But this is a cold look at humanity in crisis, where robbery and rape are just around the corner and every man is out for themselves. Ultimately, an exciting and often shocking little film that does wonders with what little it was given.
Directed by: Ray Milland
Country: USA
Rating: ***
Tom Gillespie
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