72 Hours, The Length of a Zombie Apocalypse

Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc is one of my favorite short horror film makers. Last November I reviewed her very short film Border Patrol on this blog. A zombie film? Yes! ...I mean no.  I mean, yeah, the smelly unmentionables were looming just beyond the camera, but that film was more about what becomes of us, the pseudo-survivors. How long does it take for us to lose all hope after the dearly departed show up for an encore? Hence Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc's "72 Hours."

A young wife is holed up in her bathroom. We have to give her credit. She and her husband were 100% correct to prepare for a zombie apocalypse. After all, Noah's neighbors thought he was insane...then the skies opened up. Sure, this couple stored food and supplies. For us the viewer, we have the young wife's account of the last three days...or the first three days of the end of the world. A good plan usually doesn't survive the first gunshot of a battle, and this adage is true even for a zombie apocalypse. Sadly, as gunshots ring out in the background and severed limbs and loose intestines stink up the living room, all is not good for our lady heroine.

What happens next? "72 Hours" shows us the creeping deterioration of the human psyche after all goes to hell.  No matter how much preparation and strategy exist in this household, the deadly and rotting reality always has the upper hand.  Grim, terrifying, and ominous, like "Border Patrol," this is not really a zombie film, but a story of what becomes of good people after all appears to be gone. Unlike "Border Patrol," where we see the deterioration of person hood some time after the end, "72 Hours" shows the toll on a young woman after a very short period of time. This isn't the feel good film of the millennium, but "72 Hours" will cause you to think about the tenets that hold you together and how precarious those tenets are.  
To view "72 Hours" on YouTube, click this link  72 Hours