Antisocial (2013)

(On Cable TV, October 2013) “Yet another zombie movie” would normally have me roll my eyes as, well, yet another zombie movie at a time where we’ve gone well beyond saturation point on those, but Antisocial has a few things going for it.  The first being an attempt at melding horror with social criticism of (as it were) social networks.  In this case, a New Year’s Eve celebration turns horrific as the world is ravaged by an epidemic whose source turns out to be internet-driven.  While not staggeringly new (hello, The Signal, Pulse, Cell), that’s a high concept in itself (as the apocalypse plays out as status updates and videos from beyond the closed quarters of the setting), but writer/director Cody Calahan has an eye for horror at a basic level, and so Antisocial manages a few effective sequences along the way, whether we’re talking about Christmas-light flickering death or rusty basement self-lobotomy.  There’s a bit of self-aware humor among the low-budget limitations of the film, and while the acting isn’t particularly noteworthy, lead Michelle Mylett doesn’t do too badly and develops her screen presence as the film goes on.  The rest of the film could have been better (as in; more interesting characters, tighter pacing, more artful exposition), but Antisocial gets a few credits as a cheap and effective horror film with a few bigger-than-average ideas.  The sequel is reportedly in production, which may help in developing said bigger-than-average ideas into something more substantial.