"One day it started to snow and it never stopped". In the future a new ice age has wiped out most of humanity but there are pockets of survivors living in underground colonies. Three brave men undertake a dangerous mission to another colony only to find butchered bodies and a gang of ruthless cannibals led by a Michael (Hills Have Eyes) Berryman look-a-like. There seems to be a lot of negativity here. Sure, the CGI isn't great and the film does look more straight to video than cinema release. But I found this Canadian film to be tense, scary, well acted, bleak & it has a great fight scene near the end. Was better than expected.

NO SPOILERS HERE: A review without a plot summary.How do movies like this get made? I mean, with all the money involved, doesn't someone stop and actually look at the product?Fist off, the script. It must be said that if a plot has to rely on the main characters making a litany of stupid mistakes to move it forward, then its probably not a great, well thought out story to begin with...and that's exactly what we have here with The Colony. There are countless places in the film where the story would have ended abruptly, if only the characters made a good decision. Using character stupidity as a major plot device, in a movie of this genre, is just lazy writing/filmmaking, plain and simple.The script is also ripe with over used horror troupes, which simply fall flat in the modern era of cinema. Audiences have just become to sophisticated for paint-by-numbers suspense for it to cause anxiety, fear, or thrills, simply because it's so predictable. Again, lazy writing/filmmaking.The story also lacks a well defined main theme, whether it be life in an post-apocalyptic earth, a treat from an outside source, or finding salvation. Without direction, the movie as a whole feels empty and meaningless.There is almost no character development. The story is imbalanced, in that, so much time is spent on the journey to and from a location in the film, there's no real time for the audience to get to know and care about the characters. Bill Paxton's character is way underdeveloped and underutilized. Laurence Fishburne's character was only fleshed out enough to be serviceable, but the audience feels not real connection to him, or any of the other characters for that matter. Therefore, it is difficult for the viewer to realty care about any of their fates. Hence, when one of the main characters dies, it carries no emotional impact.The bad force in the film is given no explanation, no back story, and it is very hyperbolic, to the point its almost cartoonish, where it loses its intended impact...especially during the climax if the film.The special effects in the film are only serviceable, as they're just a step above video game quality. This wouldn't have been so bad, if it weren't for the directors Peter Jacksonesque camera sweeps around and above some of the larger digital set pieces.The none of the actors gave memorable performances. Many of the actors seemed to just, "phone it in," as if this film was nothing more than a payday.The cinematography does achieve the feeling of vast openness of the outdoor set pieces. However, the film fails to produce the feeling of true isolation or the claustrophobic effects of living underground.If one could turn back the clock to 1987 and this were a made for TV movie, then it might have been something. But, this film was released in theaters 2013, so it fails to impress. Though, this isn't a film I'd place on the Worst Movies of All Time list, there's nothing worthy about it to make it worth recommending, even if its on Netflix and its a lazy Sunday. There are far better ways to waste your time.

I really liked the idea of this movie and it started out pretty good but quickly went downhill. There were a few decent parts, and you will like this movie if you are into the lame slasher kinda zombie movies but it just wasn't for me. I do not like the intense action, shaking camera, followed by over used tag lines. "Come and get it!" Pretty poor acting especially by Laurence Fishburne. Not very believable and way to much suspense building up to what is already expected. Dramatic over used score that we have all heard a thousand times before in every other slasher/zombie movie. Some of the action shots and effects were so bad it was embarrassing. Punches that weren't any where close to the intended target. Axe hits with no force behind them at all.

The Colony is directed by Jeff Renfroe (HAVEN, ALMOST HUMAN & BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) so he has a good eye for visuals, as you can see through his latest film. Originally this film was going to be a big budget ensemble cast piece, but thankfully they used big names & used the budget for the visuals. This amazing apocalyptic sci-fi horror has everything in it.It stars Kevin Zegers (Adam Green's FROZEN), Laurence Fishburne, & Bill Paxton both of which have acted in their far share of the sci-fi, action & horror genre. Kevin Zegers plays SAM, a almost anti-hero character who doesn't find his place till later on in the film but through his eyes & perspective we see that world needs him in more ways than one. Laurence Fishburne & Bill Paxton play two ex-soldiers Briggs and Mason who team up early on to start a colony of survivors during this whiteout that covers the earth. Both are so different as one is a born leader, the other just wants to lead but both bring so much to their characters that they immerse you into the icy hell that it's hard to see who is right and who is wrong.In the future, Earth is covered in an Ice Age. The survivors live in facilities underground named Colonies, ergo the name. When people from Colony 5 release a distress signal, the leader of Colony 7 Briggs (played by Fishburne) organizes an expedition with Sam (Zegers) and Graydon (played by Atticus Mitchell who brings a good level of faux bravery & fear to the role) to investigate what has happened to their neighboring colonists. Briggs leaves the scientist Kai (played by the beautiful Charlotte Sullivan) in charge of the group, disappointing his former friend Mason (Paxton).Walking for days, they finally reach the facility where the fifty said persons reside and they find only one survivor - Leland (played brilliantly by Julian Richings of CUBE & Wrong Turn) so scared to death that he's locked himself in a room deep in the facility. They soon come to realize that something far worse than the cold is hunting humans. The visuals and the cinematography are amazing especially considering that this is the first movie to be shot at the decommissioned NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) base in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. The interior shots of the base gives the isolation and claustrophobic feel much like that of the original ALIEN film. The exterior shots which were mainly used with green screen but real snow to give the true effects of the cold hell they had to endure had beautiful destruction and chaos, quite a reminiscence of THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW meets THE THING.The tension builds amazingly well also, not just because of the trek and the weather conditions they have to endure but claustrophobia plays a huge part in this film. The tension also meets with a few good shocks of realism as well due to the human condition and what one does to survive in any condition of despair.This film has a touch of several great nods to it especially considering the budget they had. It gives nods to (some I mentioned earlier) MAD MAX, THE THING, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, as well as THE HILLS HAVE EYES. The solid tension build up, the acting, the visuals all are top notch.I highly recommend this film.