The World of Movies: Panic Attack
Written by Rachael Crawley
The World of Movies is a series that explores global cinema, drawing on films from many countries, industries and eras. This week, we survive a robot invasion in Uruguay.
Panic Attack.
May contain spoilers.
This is a short review for a short film – only five minutes! Panic Attack (Fede Alvarez, 2009) is simply a brief glimpse into a sci-fi future, but it is rendered with a stunningly rapid pace and some cool effects. Its quick display of a robot attack helped launch Alvarez’s highly promising career.
A little boy plays by the foggy river with his toy robots. Looking up, he is amazed to see airships over his head. Within minutes, giant robots have taken over Montevideo, and the city is in chaos. Shocked onlookers flee in terror – or try to capture it on their cameras. Montevideo’s landmarks quickly go up in flames. The people of Uruguay are left in devastation in the face of these space invaders.
The movie is short on plot (or, more accurately, has no plot), but it does look great. It is particularly impressive when one considers that the budget was between $300-500. The early animated segments are reminiscent of Lotte Reiniger, the German silhouette artist. The robots are truly effective in their appearance, and Alvarez does a great job of blending real footage with VFX. Its speed is its strongest asset – it really does convey a huge disaster efficiently, and could be the springboard to a larger story.
Panic Attack.
In effect, that is what happened. The short was apparently quite a hit on YouTube, and raised Alvarez’s profile to the extent that he was offered the remake of Evil Dead (2013). Alvarez would go on to direct several more films, chiefly in horror and sci-fi, and undoubtedly has many more ahead of him.
While there isn’t much to the short itself, it is a useful look at an emerging filmmaker and the promise he would show for the future. Considering how well Alvarez handles the different elements in this piece, it’s no surprise that he has launched successfully in Hollywood. With his grasp of mixed media and his experience in different genres, it will be exciting to see what he presents us with in years to come. If you want to see how he got started, this short film is a nice insight into his early career.
Rachael Crawley holds a Master's Degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, and has worked with film in Canada and in Europe. She adores language and cinema, and how these subjects interact with each other.