Image Entertainment's State of Emergency To DVD On Apr. 16

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Image Entertainment has tabbed Apr. 16 as the DVD debut date for writer/director Turner Clay’s zombie-plague thriller, State of Emergency.

You can’t say “zombie thriller” without it immediately being followed by someone saying: “Oh please, not another damn zombie movie!”   But hold it right there, State of Emergency takes a slightly different tack on what is well-tread and all too familiar ground.   Genre-fans will be pleased with this one … and the curious should take a look as well.

A chemical plant goes up in rural Kentucky and releases a toxin into the atmosphere that attacks the central nervous system of those individuals unlucky enough to be downwind.  They are, however, not the walking dead … not dead at all in fact, just messed up with some really nasty side effects from their exposure to the chemical cloud.   These symptoms include festering, rotting skin, bright red eyes and a desire to attack and consume those not infected by the “disease.”  

We see events unfold — often through cleverly staged flashbacks — through the eyes of a local rancher named Jim (Jay Hayden — as Davis on the Battleground TV series, plus such films as House Bunny, A Warrior’s Heart, etc.).   He’s able to piece together what is going on and quickly learns that he’s inside the quarantine zone.  He also learns that painting “HELP” on the rooftop for passing military choppers to see can get him killed … he’s on his own.

There are other survivors, including a man named Scott (Scott Lilly — Fading of the Cries), who has fortified a local warehouse (be sure to check out the name on the building … that’s got to be an inside joke) with his friends Emilie (McKenna Jones) and Alex (Tori White). 

 

This is where the quartet will make their stand, but even if they are successful against the ever-increasing numbers of their infected neighbors who come knocking at their door, they still have to figure out a way to get out of the quarantine zone before they are zapped by “friendly” fire.

State of Emergency is part old-school (think: Dawn of the Dead), with some nice tweaks, including a twist-ending that is nicely hidden by the structure of Clay’s storytelling.

Bonus features include deleted scenes and two production featurettes.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report