Special Report: Zombie Invasion

There was this movie from 2012 starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley called Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. It was about humanity learning that a giant asteroid was coming their way in less than a month, and there was no way to stop it. It was so big that it was going to destroy the planet and all life. We then follow Carrell around as he deals with his final days. It was just OK, and tries to be emotional, but there's really one scene that truly succeeds in that department.

There is a news anchor who keeps going to work and delivers the nightly news. We see him multiple times, but the final time is when he signs off for the last time, knowing everything is about to end. It's incredibly poignant because he's been doing this for 27 years, and this is the end, not just of his career, but of everyone's lives. The movie does a lot with people going crazy and living the hedonistic lifestyle now that the world is ending, but not this guy. He was there as a calming presence while the world was ending. He even tells everyone what he's going to do once he leaves. He's going to have dinner with his wife and talk about their two sons. It's the one thing that's stuck with me in what's otherwise a forgettable movie. While everyone is cramming decades-worth of living in their last days, he's coming to work to help in the only way he knows how. I really love this scene.

So today's pick is kind of like that, but you probably never even heard of it. In fact, it is the Dawn of the Dead Special Feature...

Special Report: Zombie Invasion (2005)

I'm doing something a little different today because not enough people know that this exists, and it's a shame because it's so good and makes me wish that this were expanded into an entire movie. As it is, it's a 20-minute special feature on the Dawn of the Dead remake DVD.

The bonus video is of what appears to be a small to mid-size TV station covering the zombie outbreak from the beginning to where it's gotten completely out of control. We have an anchor sitting at a desk covering the latest in the breaking situation. He tosses to different live shots, he gets new information handed to him, he has a producer in his ear and at several points he has to fill the air after every live shot that usually ends badly. I'm critical of when Hollywood tries to replicate a news production. I'm sorry, I've given almost 14 years of my life to the business, so let me gatekeep because they are terrible at it. With that said, this is probably the most realistic depiction of breaking news I've ever seen in a Hollywood production. Even "The Newsroom" didn't come close to this because you could feel the confusion and the hidden panic behind the anchor's newsman mask, while "The Newsroom" had at least one person being perfect; this was hectic, and everyone was flying by the seat of their pants. Breaking news is a helluva thing. I also appreciated how this guy wasn't the most polished; he truly felt like an anchor tossed into an incredible situation, doing his best not to appear as flustered as he really was.

For my loyal readers, you may remember in my War of the Worlds review, I mentioned how no news station would play video of someone being killed. In this feature, the anchor kicks to some video where drunk dudes are playing around with a chained, zombified woman in a bikini and a football helmet. They're taunting her until one gets too close, the helmet comes off and he starts getting eaten. Now, it makes no sense that the person recording, presumably a friend of the person being murdered, would send that video to a news station, or that the station would let it play that long, but once the blood flies, they cut away to the anchor, who looks pissed and chastises those behind the camera for not watching the video first. Normally, I'd say just because someone on screen points out that something is stupid doesn't make it OK. In this case... I liked it. Like I mentioned, this is a crazy breaking news story, and it looks like a small TV market, so you won't have as many experienced producers, so I could see something like that getting through. I mean, who else remembers Sum Ting Wong and that happened in San Francisco!

I loved the passage of time in this, too. The whole thing starts with the belief that it's just widespread riots until, little by little, everyone realizes it's a zombie invasion. We'd have a segment and then it would cut to a map of the U.S. with red dots with the word "Infestation Hour ___" and we'd see how many more dots there were compared to the last segment. The live hits are so good and so varied, like you have Tom Savini as a sheriff explaining how to defend yourself from them, but it's more emotional than you'd think. While he's being interviewed, he's telling the reporter that he knows these people. He points to one zombie and says that the guy did work on his house and that he banged another one in the group.

That's another cool thing, they have multiple actors in there from the original Dawn of the Dead. It's a fun little easter egg and a callback to show appreciation to the movie that came before. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this and the little things this special feature does. When we first see this man, he's wearing the traditional suit and tie, but as the video goes on, we can see the passage of time, not just through the time cards, but how he looks. As it goes on, he loses the suit coat, then he loses the tie and he looks more and more tired as it goes on. This guy has been on the air for more than a day, and by the end, you get a clear glimpse of how serious he takes this job.

The final time we see him, he's almost completely dressed down, he looks utterly exhausted and defeated and most of the newsroom is already gone. There's only a single light on him, and all the background noise and chatter are gone. He is so dedicated to his job and his responsibility that he stayed until the station switched over to the emergency broadcast system. Even as most of the newsroom had already abandoned him, he was there with a skeleton crew trying to warn and advise the public on how to stay safe. Despite the world literally ending around him and it's extremely unlikely anyone is watching, he wants to help in the small way he can.

As a newsman, I can't help but get emotional during his sign-off. They play a final message from the President of the United States, and he's giving a little speech, just copying FDR's "Nothing left to fear" speech, basically saying, "I'm out, good luck ya'll!"

There is no cutaway, just the anchor's face as he's listening and understanding that they're all alone. Listening to the president's speech, you can see that all hope has officially left his body. The anchors' final words absolutely get to me every time. As he's saying goodbye, he's looking directly in the camera with tears in his eyes and says, "Honey... I'm coming home. Get the kids ready. I'll be there soon."

My goodness, this is fantastic, and you owe it to yourself to watch it, ESPECIALLY if you work in news!

10 Dr. Chainsaws!