We’ve entered a stage where the limits of lockdown conditions are being tested by horror filmmakers, with the first trailer for zombie movie Alone having been released, which will resonate powerfully with more than a few viewers.
The story sees lone man Aiden attempt to survive an uprising of zombies (“screamers”) by barricading himself inside his apartment as the world goes to hell on the streets outside. With nothing but his own company to keep him going and food gradually dwindling, his odds of surviving and remaining sane look bleak until he discovers his neighbor is also still alive, and attempts to save her.
Although Alone might seem like it was made as a reaction to the current world conditions, it had completed filming months before the pandemic hit, with it just so happening that many standard setups of zombie films mirror current reality, except for the virus transforming humanity into roving armies of ravenous undead. It asks questions about what it means to be truly human and if acts committed in the name of survival will eventually erode someone’s sense of morality to such a state that they might as well be part of the shrieking horde.
When it’s at its best, horror is a reflection of real-world fears, and the choice between the possibility of death via walking out your front door or remaining trapped inside slowly being driven insane from isolation is a dilemma relatable to far more people than the movie could ever have originally predicted. From what the trailer reveals, it seems as though the film is an assortment of familiar Last Man On Earth tropes that ask the difference between living and merely surviving, but with audiences able to project their own recent experiences onto the fictional events, it’s been inadvertently afforded added resonance.
A number of lockdown horrors have been emerging in the last couple of months, most notably Rob Savage’s superlative Zoom séance Host, and while Alone might not have been made to be counted among their number, its unfortunately timely premise will certainly see it listed alongside them when it’s released on October 16th.