Cult Cinema: The Battery (2012) - Reviewed

Images courtesy of Shout Factory

Prolific character actor Jeremy Gardner has kept himself busy lately within the horror genre, starring in Bliss, The Leech and Christmas Bloody Christmas almost back-to-back.  Primarily a performer usually playing scruffy bearded unkempt men either homeless or on the run from their criminal past, Gardner got his first break with writing and starring in Anthony Stella’s The Bags about killer plastic grocery bags.  During the downtime in between projects, lasting almost twelve years before making his official debut as a writer-director, Jeremy Gardner borrowed $600 from ten friends of his each to amass the tight budget for what ultimately became The Battery: a slice-of-life episodic tale of two former baseball players navigating the post-apocalyptic zombie filled landscape of New England. 

 
Starring Gardner as Ben and co-producer Adam Cronheim as Mickey, the film opens on the unlikely twosome driving through the back roads of Connecticut on the run from the undead with no destination in mind.  Previously trapped in Mickey’s home for three months before surviving family members got infected, Ben vehemently opposes the notion of staying put in one place preferring to keep moving scaping up supplies on the way.  Mickey on the other hand is a petulant self-centered crybaby who would rather lose himself in his headphones while constantly wasting batteries on his discman.  Determined to find his girlfriend who may not even still be alive, tensions rise between the two survivors Ben and Mickey as the zombie outbreak closes in and chance encounters with other survivors land them in worse trouble than when they started.

 
Minimalist, nearly no-budget and frequently made up on the spot during its fifteen-day shoot with more than a few running long takes that go on at uncomfortable lengths, The Battery somehow manages to take a tried-and-true zombie horror subgenre and subvert the expectations in ways not even seasoned fans will anticipate.  Maybe the first zombie film in which a survivor finds himself awkwardly sexually aroused by an undead woman in a scene that has to be seen to be believed.  Certainly the first zombie movie that over time became claustrophobic and even suffocating.  Jeremy Gardner though unknown at the time of his sophomore effort would eventually develop into a familiar indie-horror face of a guy who seems threatening, dangerous but somehow a comforting presence to be around.  The other guy played by the co-producer succeeds in completely alienating the audience from him with his constant whining, crying, self-superior sermonizing and finally an icky side.

 
A movie where the real-world offscreen problems ended up forming the plotline of the film such as a scene where their car breaks down (for real, purchased off of Craigslist for $600) and they barricade themselves inside the vehicle for what feels like a claustrophobic suffocating eternity.  A completely happy accident that ushers in a visual concept within the zombie subgenre that’s frankly never been seen before with long takes that go on forever, turning from hiding from the undead to desperately wanting to get out of this damn car!  For being so low budget, The Battery is surprisingly innovative.  With Ryan Winford’s experimental soundtrack which used everything from a toaster to beer bottles to make music to recurring collaborator Christian Stella’s panoramic widescreen photography lensed on a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera, it’s a zombie film in the great wide open with the quirky quickie feel of a Ben Wheatley film.

 
A clandestine little zombie indie released at the Telluride Horror Show before going on digital platforms and then physical media a year later, The Battery is almost like a litmus test for fans of the lurching stalking undead.  A road movie without a plan, just seeing where the shoot took the filmmakers and that’s the finished picture onscreen, it harkens back in its way to the heyday of filmmakers like Dennis Hopper or Bob Rafelson who created road movies that slowly unpeeled layers of character development with specific social context in mind.  In time, Jeremy Gardner would mount two more features including his comedy film Tex Montana Will Survive! and most recently After Midnight in between starring in numerous forthcoming horror films.  But its this first foray into film directing for Gardner that somehow or another managed to usher in a movie about the undead that feels fresh and new.  Most certainly worth a look!

--Andrew Kotwicki