Horror Favourites – David J. Moore

A loving ode to films with post-apocalyptic themes, World Gone Wild, Restocked and Reloaded 2nd Edition: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies is an updated edition of the original must-have book.

It features more than 1,200 movie reviews, plus more than 600 images and dozens of interviews with filmmakers and actors. Written by film historian David J. Moore, author of The Good, the Tough, and the Deadly: Action Movies and Stars we grabbed the talented scribe to chat about the horror movie he loves the most.

From asteroids to zombies, the film and television industry has dreamed up seemingly infinite ways to end the world. Fortunately, in this definitive guide to all things apocalypse (on film), entertainment journalist David J. Moore helps you navigate the abundance of post-apocalyptic films to separate the brilliant from the toxic.

The book includes coverage of the iconic films that launched the genre (the likes of The Road Warrior, Escape from New York, and The Terminator) as well as newer smash hits (including The Hunger Games, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Walking Dead), while devoting equal time and attention to the genre’s smallest, most-obscure films

It also contains exclusive interviews with filmmakers and actors, a five-level rating system and a vast subgenre index to guide your post-apocalyptic binge watching. With loads of additional content the Restocked and Reloaded 2nd Edition includes more than 500 new reviews, more than 200 additional images, and two dozen additional interviews

Whether you’re new to the genre or a battle-hardened wasteland warrior, this gargantuan compendium will ensure that you’re ready to survive the apocalypse—or at least your next movie night.

Below David talks us through some of the scary movies he would take with him into the apocalypse:

“The post-apocalyptic genre is so vast, and it encompasses so many “subgenres,” some of which are firmly embedded in the horror genre such as any number of zombie apocalypse films or the occasional vampire apocalypse. Daybreakers comes to mind, or the recent TV series Van Helsing or The Strain, which are all unique in their own right.

If I had to choose a “horror” film that is set in a moment in time when the world is imploding or falling apart, I’d call back to the 2008 film Pontypool, which handles the end of the world in a really radical and startling way that has never quite been repeated or copied. It resembles a zombie apocalypse where something is triggered in the human mind almost from one moment to the next, where a word or a phrase somehow turns people into human bombs in a way, where humanity turns against itself in a psychological, all-encompassing culling.

You don’t have to be dead to turn into one of these human time bombs: It’s a mind virus. To me, this is really scary stuff and suggests that there’s no fighting it. You’d literally have to isolate yourself with absolutely no media, no communication whatsoever, which also means not thinking or reading or processing any type of language, and just wait the apocalypse out by yourself in complete and utter silence or in a comatose state, but in our world that’s virtually impossible … so the implication is that you can’t win. But it’s fascinating to think about, and I love being challenged by ideas such as this. Isn’t that what a really good scary movie is supposed to do? Make you think? And what’s better than a genre-splicing film that combines end-of-the-world themes with a tried-and-true trope such as the tired old zombie movie?

I made sure that World Gone Wild: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies Restocked and Reloaded 2nd Edition absolutely conquers the genre to the point where no stone was left unturned, so that every fan – casual or battle hardened – could literally use the book as a roadmap or guide to the end of the world as it’s shown in movies and shows, and there are definitely some gems in the book, gems like Pontypool that deserve a look.

If you watch Pontypool and enjoy it, you might also enjoy the following movies with similar themes: Cell, Antisocial, Antisocial 2, and Mom and Dad. Scary stuff!”

World Gone Wild, Restocked and Reloaded 2nd Edition: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies Hardcover by David J. Moore is available now from all good bookstores and some Post-Apocalyptic ones!
World Gone Wild, Restocked and Reloaded 2nd Edition: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies on Amazon