That's one heck of a title, eh? Sorry you can't really read it.
Disaster L.A. The Last Zombie Apocalypse Begins Here is probably better than you would expect knowing that it's probably super low budget and has just one guy doing a lot of the heavy lifting behind the scenes (Turner Clay on writing, directing, producing, sound engineering, special effects, and editing). It starts out strong but loses steam along the way, ultimately being just another in the pile of generic, low budget, apocalyptic-zombie flicks.
I've found that there are a couple of different types of low-budget films. There are those that are proud of their indieness - they like to boast about their small budget (a la Revolution Trail) - saying "look how good we did with this little amount of money!" And then there are movies that are seemingly embarrassed by it - they are either trying to fool people into thinking the movie is a blockbuster, or they don't want potential investors to know how much (or how little) actually went into production. I think Disaster L.A. is the latter - I was genuinely curious to know what this thing cost, but haven't been able to find the info. Judging by the size of the credits and the scope of the film, I'm guessing not very much. So while I want to give it credit for being "pretty good for being so cheap," I can't verify if that is actually true or not.
Disaster L.A. is a about a group of friends who are trying to survive a disaster in (you guessed it) Los Angeles. The disaster? Meteors are crashing down from the sky, and carrying with them some kind of airborne toxic disease. And this disease happens to turn people into vicious zombie-ish killers! (More 28 Days, less Romero.) Our 5 friends (all 20-something guys) formulate a plan to get the coast, assuming the air is clearer out there. A couple of the more gentlemanly ones want to stop on the way to check on their girlfriends. Who will make it through the city of angels and get to the coast? Tune in to find out!
The first act of the film is easily the best. It's one of those films that really makes me amazed at how far special effects have come in the last several years. Special Effects man Turner Clay (the only one, so I assume it's all done on a lone computer) creates a good looking disaster-stricken city - lots of smoke drifting through the air, helicopters everywhere, damaged buildings... it's not perfect by any means, but it's still effective. And of course, you get the group trapped in an isolated location, learning about their fate through a newscast/radio program. I'm not sure if it's the Wells War of the Worlds type storytelling or what, but something about it just works for me. Even though there obviously isn't a huge cast of extras to work with, Director Turner Clay does a good job giving these early scenes a chaotic feeling. They obviously didn't shut down the streets of L.A., but they find some empty spots and make the illusion work with some well-placed extras.
Once our friends decide to head to the coast and get out of the house, things don't fare quite so will. At that point, Disaster L.A. devolves pretty quickly into a "pick a spot to go/see a zombie/get chased/hide/pick a new spot" story. And this is where the (presumably) low budget hurts it a bit too. You see these characters getting all worked up screaming "Oh My GOD RUN!"... and then 2 zombies are chasing them down a huge empty street. It's not Disaster L.A.'s fault, but by this point in the zombie movie game we're pretty much expecting a horde of them here, yeah? It ends up being unintentionally hilarious.
The acting isn't anything special, but it's never too bad either - it's appropriately professional. All of the characters are pretty stock (crazy party guy, responsible leader, loser, smart nerd), but everyone does fine. I thought crazy party guy Turner (Jerod Meagher) was the best, and he gets the closest thing to a story. Early on, he seems like he's going to be insufferable, but he manages to win you over throughout the film. By the time the zombie attacks are getting a bit dull, he's able to pick up some of the slack.
But still, it's pretty dull. Some of the zombie makeup looks pretty good, but some is of the "gussied up halloween mask" variety. Wisely, the good stuff is early on in the film, so by the time you get to the cheap stuff you probably feel too invested in things to bail. There isn't much to the gore effects either - it's more of the "swing a weapon offscreen and see blood splatter" stuff. There are a couple of bite wounds that are okay, but nothing that makes it stand out against the horde of other low budget DTV zombie flicks.
And that's pretty much Disaster L.A. The Last Zombie Apocalypse Begins Here as a whole. There is nothing bad here, but nothing that makes it stand out. If all of the DTV zombie flicks were an actual horde of zombies in a movie, this would be one who maybe has a quirky shirt that you might notice and decent looking makeup, and then gets a close up head shot from a secondary character. Something to make you go "hmm," but nothing you'll remember after the credits roll.
After a kind of intriguing set up with good special effects, it ends up being a pretty by the numbers zombie chase film (albeit with far fewer zombies than you might expect). It is commendable for having such a small, small crew (it seriously has the shortest credits I've ever seen, with Turner Clay doing just about everything). It's honestly an accomplishment that it's even watchable... it's just not really good enough to recommend.
I would not recommend this film.
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