AMERICAN VIRUS *** USA 2015 Dir: Shane Ryan. 6 mins
A fast and furious short that follows a zombie outbreak on the streets of America. After the initial panic there are reports that the area has been successfully contained and quarantined although this may not be for long. A group of freedom fighters as such are staging an uprising. The group headed up by Director Shane Ryan and writers Tommie Vegas and Kathryn Eastwood (daughter of Clint Eastwood) report and live stream themselves injecting bodies with the virus to start it all off again and bring the world to it’s knees.
Taking elements of various different styles, found footage being the main one (luckily it doesn’t have too much shaky cam) as well as using news report footage and sciencey type flashing images to really make it stand out. It has a bold soundtrack and uses repetition effectively both with the audio and visually. The zombie make up and gore effects they could fit in are pretty good as is the acting from the relatively small cast. Standing up well enough on its own AMERICAN VIRUS became the opening story for the 2018 zombie anthology movie VIRUS OF THE DEAD from Wild Eye Releasing.
Review by Sarah Budd
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