''Dead Air'' is a 2009 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

- horror film directed by

Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series '' L.A. Law'',

and starring Bill Moseley and

Patricia Tallman Patricia J. Tallman (born September 4, 1957) is an American actress, stunt performer, and studio executive best known for her starring roles in ''Night of the Living Dead'', '' Star Trek'' and ''Babylon 5''. She is the former CEO and executive ...

. The story focuses on a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

that warns its listeners after an explosion unleashes

zombies A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

into

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Screenwriter Kenny Yakkel explained before the film's release that the "undead" presented are not actual zombies: "It's like a PCP zombie movie, that's my take on it 'cause they're not really dead."

Plot

A plague in the form of a toxic viral gas is unleashed at major sporting events across the United States. The gas turns its victims instantly "into an immediate rage of insanity and violence". Controversial Los Angeles talk show radio host Logan Burnhardt and his production team are caught up in the middle of the chaos. Only blocks away from the explosion site, they begin to receive reports of rioters in the streets and listeners continue to call in reports of their first hand experiences. In addition to those infected by the virus, the terrorists responsible for the attacks, led by Abir, attempt to make their way to Logan's studio and kill anyone in the way.

Cast

Production

''Dead Air'' began filming in March, 2007 on location in

and production wrapped on the film in late April 2007. It has been described as ''

28 Days Later ''28 Days Later'' is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. It stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagiou ...

'' meets ''

Talk Radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

'', "but this is less about the flesheating-zombie thing and more about the paranoia following 9/11." It brings together Bill Moseley and Patricia Tallman as Lucy, Moseley's character's ex-wife; the two had previously worked together on

Tom Savini Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including ''Martin' ...

's remake of ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven pe ...

''. The film also marks Tallman's return to the genre, which the actress says is her first work of substance since the end of her run on TV's ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...

''. The budget was under $500,000.

Release

Though originally slated for a Winter 2007 theatrical release, ''Dead Air'', was released on October 27, 2009, on DVD.

Reception

Paul Mount of '' Starburst'' rated it 6/10 stars and called it "an enjoyably hokey experience" that overcomes its derivativeness. Gareth Jones of Dread Central rated it 2/5 stars and wrote that the scenes "lack any kind of suspense or sense of threat". Dustin Hall of Brutal as Hell wrote the film "isn’t particularly scary" but "gives much to ponder". Writing in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2'', academic

Peter Dendle Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and s ...

said that although the film is often compared to '' Pontypool'', it stands on its own and has a different message: political and social versus the more philosophical and linguistic themes of ''Pontypool''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dead Air (Film) 2009 films 2009 horror films American science fiction horror films American zombie films Films directed by Corbin Bernsen 2000s English-language films 2000s American films