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31 Days of Horror – ‘The Battery’ (2012)

It's a zombie film! It's a baseball bromance! Actually, it's both

The zombie genre should be played out by now.

Director George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” gave way to dozens of undead shockers, including the king of zombie television – “The Walking Dead.”

Talk about immortal.

“The Battery” stands as one of the more curious undead entries and one that demands your patience.

The Battery (Official Trailer)

Former baseball teammates Mickey (Adam Cromheim) and Ben (Jeremy Gardner, the film’s writer/director) work together to stay alive during a zombie apocalypse. They take a very different approach to the New Normal, with Ben focusing on survival and Mickey pining for the life they once led.

Meanwhile, the zombies lurk in the shadows, forcing them to stay alert or become one of the undead. And, in between, they play baseball.

The term “battery” refers to the pitcher/catcher combination in the American pastime.

The focus here is on the prickly friendship the two share and how survival instincts blossom in the worst of times. Those eager for gore and slick kills should look elsewhere. Yes, there’s some zombie action here, but most of the film’s running time is focused on the main characters and their fight for survival.

Gardner and co. shot the film for a tidy $6,000, but that doesn’t impede the film’s quiet pleasures. That microscopic tally forced the filmmakers to get creative.

That meant they made squibs (fake blood packets) out of condoms and battled wasps who hunkered down in the film’s used car, the most expensive part of the production.

31 Days of Horror

 

2 Comments

  1. This is one of my favorite zombie movies. It’s really lived in, not very propulsive, which might turn some off. Dawn of the Dead this is not. But it developed, real feeling relationships and human reactions in scenes occasionally interrupted by having to fend off some zombies. I would consider this in the mumblegore sub-genre. The only problem I had was when they were in the car, in the final act, it went on a little too long.

  2. You know, I started this one and thought I wouldn’t even finish it, but I’m glad I did. It has its flaws, but overall it’s a great little character study. Unlike most others, apparently, I didn’t mind the length of the car scene, though I was continually bothered by the things they *weren’t* doing. And yeah, this is almost the lowest of low budgets. So low I’m surprised they could afford a descent boom mike. I was surprised that I actually recognized one of the cast from a different (much higher budget) thing. I won’t spoil who, though.

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