Exit Humanity, a 2011 film, is the most literary movie I have seen.
Yes, screenwriters, I shall pause with dignity as your virtual rope is tossed over the limb of your liberal tree and knotted into a noose…
This very low budget film featured some good acting, excellent period artifacts, and a seven chapter journal construct that utilized the voice of Brian Cox to lend context and atmosphere in the absence of a large cast of extras and expensive special effects, and also helped lend a dreamy quality to the film.
The basic trope is the rising of a voodoo zombie horde from the earth of post Civil War Tennessee in 1871. The initial scene hints at the coming of the zombies in a skirmish between union and confederate troops.
The slow gray progress of the film evokes the period worldview but will tend not to draw in World War Z fans. The predictable plot is well-textured and the film ends on a point of masculine humanity that was quite appropriate.
To give you a sense for the narrative here are some quotes from Brian Cox’s voice over, which remains sparse enough to avoid intruding on the drama:
‘In such times’
‘My cross to bear’
‘Stripped of humanity’
‘My horse Shiloh and I’
‘There are dark days ahead’
‘I am already dead’
‘The dead at the door’
As you can see these are heavily atmospheric phrases.
I would like to see more from these filmmakers in the genre.
