Days of Darkness

Steve and Mimi (Travis Brorsen and Roshelle Pattison) are unprepared for what awaits them after a nice night out together as a comet passes by. It seems “dust particles” from the comet, when breathed in by those on the surface of the earth, are turned into flesh-eating zombies. Once inside the human body they start to incubate and then form fetuses inside, connecting to the brains of their hosts, turning whoever the possess into some type of hybrid organism that can exist on the planet. Steve and Mimi encounter a human not invaded who fends off some zombies with a machete, but not before Steve is bitten by one of them. However, in this kind of zombie film, a bite doesn’t cause the person bitten to turn into a zombie. It took the comet’s passing and what came off it to turn you into a zombie.

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Steve and Mimi are taken to a shelter on the outskirts of (I’m guessing) Hollywood. Those among them are an assortment of folks, ranging from a former porn star and her daughter to a salesman and drug counselor. One of them is a bit polarizing, packing a rifle and bad attitude. But the bible-thumping doomsdaying fanatic takes the cake. Mimi appears pregnant but Steve is dismayed and angry because she wanted to remain a virgin until the two were married. A homosexual man who lost his partner and daughter to zombies, a former female soldier (who is perhaps the most sound mentally of the bunch), and the preacher’s zombie brother all make up the body of this group. Can they hold off the zombies at the gate? Should they move on for some place safer? Can they just get along? Meanwhile, the pornstar’s daughter develops symptoms similar to Mimi, holding a creature that grows inside her. Can Steve overcome his anger and realize that Mimi wasn’t unfaithful, needing to usurp what is often the case for something quite extraordinary? Liquor might just be the answer to what ails Mimi…

Despite the incredible premise, which is beyond bonkers, this is a hybrid zombie/shelter film through and through. Despite monster fetuses attacking folks, zombies gnawing away on helpless human victims, and plenty of the expected infighting that comes from being cooped up and needing to come up with ideas that might help resolve what is seemingly unsolvable; this is a zombie film with slight alterations. Plenty of blood, biting, and mayhem. Obviously cheap due to its small-scale setting, despite quite a global threat explained. Tom Eplin, as the hard-to-stomach movie producer/rancher holding tight to his rifle, might be recognized by fans of the former NBC soap, Another World. The use of sex and sexual biology in the overall story is quite gross and unsettling. As is par for the course with zombie films, humans make some decisions that can be a bit skeptical and asinine, like pairing off instead of sticking together and working more as a team to ward off threats. When most of them are dead by film’s end, it is no surprise due to their foolhardy actions.

Baier naked under a sheet, admittedly, gave me naughty thoughts, and Griffin offers sexy out of the overt school girl uniform dress, eventually overcome by the fetus inside her. The religious apocalyptic fantacism and scripture quoting puts the preacher under a most negative light...His letting zombies in doesn't help his image, nor does kissing the gay man he condemns.