Antisocial

I've got to hand it to Calahan. Even though I'm completely done with virus/outbreak/zombie flicks, Antisocial worked for me. I've seen so many similar films these past few years (ever since the Dawn of the Dead remake rekindled people's interest) that calling it a genre of its own is almost an understatement.

So many directors have tried to come up with new angles and different spins that that in itself has become a cliché. Yet Calahan's approach still felt like a fresh take on the subject. Antisocial is definitely not a perfect film and while it's easy to critique the film for some of its weaker aspects, in the end the outbreak atmosphere simply hit all the right notes.

The acting is quite subpar at times and some of the plot points can be pretty far-fetched, but get over that (I'm sure some of you won't be able to, but that's okay) and underneath you'll find a film that plays around with conventions in a rather unique way. So much that I actually started to doubt some of the clichés that have been part of the genre for decades.

The social network spin on the outbreak theme feels a bit flimsy at first (like a doom scenario cocked up by an older generation that simply isn't capable of dealing with modern times), but in the end it proves to be a valid excuse for a much needed breath of fresh air, which is then explored quite aptly. Add to that a pretty gruesome finale and a spot on finish and what you have is an interesting little genre film, not too far out there to venture in author land, but nifty enough to circumvent many of the worn down clichés that are putting the genre in a slump.