At times infectious diseases in horror films
seem to be the cause of such horrible things as zombie outbreaks or
alien plagues that spread throughout the planet and kill everyone and
anything. 28 Days Later, Stephen King’s The Stand, The Crazies, and
Stake Land are just a few examples of this. The disease itself is just
the spark for a theme that takes different paths than the story of the
plague itself. Yet both film and fiction have actually used diseases as
the main theme behind their plot where together sickness and paranoia
spread and each become the antagonist of the premise.
With the home release of director Steven
Soderbergh’s film Contagion infectious diseases once more are the
forefront of table talk. Antibacterial gel, sexually transmitted
disease, terrorist threats, swine flu, contaminated food … society has
become not only more aware of such threats but also more fearful.
Michael Crichton’s Andromeda Strain, Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever, and
Masayuki Ochiai’s Infection are just some of the takes in art on how an
infectious disease may extend through a group or population.
Dark Discussions discusses the impact of
how such real world threats have brought about some films and novels of
significance to the fan of techno-thrillers and horror cinema. Unlike
zombie plagues, a disease itself can be based in the possibility of fact
as much as a movie about war or natural disaster. With that in mind,
this type of cinema or fiction can be more frightful than anything
supernatural. Co-hosts Mike and Philip take a look into these
nightmares. Before we begin let’s all press once more on our
antibacterial gel hand pump.
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