Die Alone

I used to help my grandfather Ingvar in his garden during hot summer days in my youth. He had both vegetables and salad growing in his garden and we would pick together fresh vegetables that we used for dinner. My grandfather was very aware that it is important to know the food you put in yourself and by having his own garden he knew there were no chemicals around, everything was grown naturally. I especially remember his carrots and sometimes we would pick out quite many and my grandmother made a carrot cake ( perfect for a coffee moment ). I think gardens like this is great for the environment, you don´t have to buy everything in the store and you save gas or diesel money as well. Plus you get to be outside and work with your hands, which i loved to do. We also used to go out in the forest and pick mushrooms and berries close to autumn season, it was another way to make sure my grandmother could use these ingredients in cooking and baking as well. Things that are good to do for the environment in general is something we all should think about. No matter how you help the environment as long as you find good solutions to make a difference. Speaking of environment and making a difference, there are people who really love nature and animals a bit too much. A perfect proof of that is the award winning environment documentary film Grizzly Man from legendary director Werner Herzog. This film tells the very fascinating story of grizzly bear activist Timothy Treadwell who lived many years in Alaska among grizzly bears by filming them at different locations with several 100 hours of film footage. Unfortunately in 2003 he was killed an eaten by a grizzly bear together with his girlfriend. When you see the documentary film you can tell he had mental problems, but he really cared for the grizzly bears and loved being near them. This is definetely a must see film if you want to see a uniqe story regarding odd humans who loved nature. Let´s stay withing the subject of environment and let´s talk about a horror film that came out last year, that actually brought up the serious subject of the environment and what impact it can make. A horror film called Die Alone that seemed to have an interesing concept for the story. With a great cast included with a fascinating story, is this one of the horror films you need to see right now or is Die Alone not as good as anyone would have expected?

Ethan ( Douglas Smith ) is struggling with headaches and memory loss, as he wakes up not recognizing himself in a world that seems to have changed a lot. While looking around what seems to be an abandoned neighborhood a patrol of armed soldiers pass by. They are prepared to shoot Ethan but an unknown stranger suddenly take each soldier out. It turns out to be a woman named Mae ( Carrie-Ann Moss ) who have learned hos to survive in a world that´s not only infected by a virus but have creatures out there in the forest. Ethan explains to Mae he needs to find his girlfriend Emma ( Kiberly-Sue Murray ) who is still out there. But with his memory loss struggling with Amnesia it´s hard to remember certain details of the last time he met her, Ethan is determined to find her no matter what it takes.

After i finished watching Die Alone i thought about one of my favourite modern zombie films known as The Girl With All The Gifts from director Colm McCarthy ( a film i actually watched twice in cinema, that doesn´t happen often ). Die Alone does have a completely different story and is not a zombie film in the same sense as The Girl With All The Gifts. But what both films touched on was how the world is affected when a virus takes over humanity and the remaining survivors have to live a life knowing they could die tomorrow, while mother nature seemed to change it´s course with new changes in society. Die Alone is clearly a virus horror film but this film actually have a deeper meaning that the virus itself where the whole world learns this virus is our own fault for destroing the environment. I think this is a great approach if you want to make a horror film regarding the importance of caring about nature and let it have a natural balance. This film also carry the importance of really loving someone no matter who it is, in this case it is the character Ethan ( played by actor Douglas Smith ) who is looking for his girlfriend Emma not knowing if shes still alive. In a world that seems hopeless and lost, it is true love like Ethan express to Emma you need to keep yourself motivated. One big issue for Ethan is he is struggling with amnesia so we do jump forward and backwards in the film and i feel the performance of someone with amnesia looks realistic. The zombie looking creatures with a very unique design looks good and especially when they have trees growing out of them, as if this is mother nature´s creation. The acting in general is alright and i epsecially enjoy actress Carrie-Ann Moss performance as the survival warrior Mae. You can tell this is a woman who have experienced rough moments in her life. The horror elements work for the most part ( even though i feel they could have developed certain scenes more ) and i appreciate that this film isn´t focused completely on the zombie like creatures. If you like post apocalyptic films in general and want a different approach in this genre i would recommend to check out Die Alone. Director Lowell Dean ( known for directing WolfCop and the sequel Another WolfCop ) manage to do something different with Die Alone and actually tell a story that not only gives us a different approach on telling a horror survival story but makes the film look good as well with clear connections to amnesia and environment ( might sound like a strange combination but actually works ). If you want a different film experience look no further, Die Alone should be on your watch list.

Rating: DDD