SICK: Survive The Night (2012) is a Canadian zombie movie directed by Ryan M. Andrews (Black Eve, Save Yourself). The screenplay is by the director himself and Chris Cull, while the names of Bruno Marino and Michael Jari Davidson (who also did the cinematography) appear in the film's production.
SICK: Survive The Night is the winner of several awards such as "Best Feature" and "Best Director" at the 2013 3rd Macabre Faire Film Festival, "Best Zombie Movie" at the 2013 Bare Bones International Film Festival, "Best Horror" and "Best Sound Design" at the 2013 Action on Film Festival.
The epidemic has already been going on for two years, and every attempt to stop it has failed. Dr. Leigh Rozetta is a scientist who has spent the past two years segregated in an underground government facility to search for a cure to the disease. After several futile attempts, the woman decides to return to her parents. On the way she crosses and joins Seph and Mckay, two survivors who have just escaped an attack by infected people. The three manage to reach and take refuge in the doctor's family home where they hope to make it through the night. Coexistence among the three strangers, however, is not easy. Meanwhile, the living dead begin to encircle the dwelling.
Amid the wave of zombie movies from all over the world Sick: Survive The Night by Ryan M. Andrews comes across as a different film that in a way reinvigorates this now overused subgenre. Sick is a surprising film that leaves a sense of melancholy even days after viewing. Credit to the story, which relies on the use of the zombie figure as a side dish to a post-apocalyptic situation where any slim hope of survival for the human race, now on the brink of extinction, has all but vanished. The loneliness and surrender in a world populated by the living dead, touch heights of sheer drama bordering on moments of genuine grief. For this Sick represents precisely a horror-drama genre film.
Sick: Survive The Night uses horror as the destructive cause of all human relationships. Although little space is given to the figure of the zombie focusing instead on human feelings and relationships, the presence of the living dead is an almost invisible constant that is reflected in the behavior and suffering of the protagonists aware that they have no escape. Apt, then, is the choice to put the zombies in the background, privileging instead the relationship between humans and their reaction to the epidemic.
The few and expected sequences devoted to the infected are well realized and satisfy the needs of zombie movie fanatics, thanks certainly also to good special effects and successful suspenseful moments. Also interesting are some videos of Dr. Joselda Fehmi (Debbie Rochon) that interrupt the story from time to time by loading it with pessimism. In the aforementioned videos in fact made in the early period of the epidemic,
woman talks about the general situation, common characteristics of the infected, possible risks, and a hypothetical cure. As the story progresses, the revelation and certainty of certain truths help give the film a claustrophobic feel.
After a slower first part, the story opens with a darker and sadder outlook that leads to an ending that is not obvious and therefore quite interesting. The tension generated inside the house is very high, thanks also to the good performances of Christina Aceto, Richard Sutton and Robert Nolan who play the main characters well. They are also joined by Andrew Lauzon's rich music that accompanies the film highlighting both its horror and dramatic sides.
The story may be vaguely reminiscent of George A. Romero's filmography, especially from Night of the Living Dead and Day of the Zombies, but also Fulci's Zombie 2. However, Ryan M. Andrews' film enjoys its own originality, which lies in bringing to the stage the drama triggered by a zombie invasion. Thus the long shots on the desperate faces of the protagonists or their gestures and the rich dialogues help to enrich this human aspect of the film.
The cast includes Christina Aceto (Let Me In), Richard Sutton, Robert Nolan, Jennifer Polansky, Debbie Rochon (Tromeo & Juliet, Wrath of the Crows, Killer Rack), Sandra DaCosta. Hellfire Pictures and Blackguardism Creations are the production companies.
