Rent Panic in Year Zero (1962)
3.4 of 5 from 63 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- When Harry Baldwin (Ray Milland) takes his family on a fishing trip, their holiday is brutally interrupted as a catastrophic atomic war breaks out, destroying their suburban Los Angeles home. What remains of the United Nations announces on the radio that society has broken down, and the Baldwins realise that they must quickly learn how to navigate this new 'year zero', and do whatever it takes in order to survive. Milland stars alongside teen idol Frankie Avalon as well as directing this bleak and visceral apocalypse thriller, described as 'the most expressive on-the-ground nightmare of the cold-war era'.
- Actors:
- Ray Milland, Jean Hagen, Frankie Avalon, Mary Mitchel, Joan Freeman, Richard Bakalyan, Rex Holman, Richard Garland, Willis Bouchey, Neil Nephew, O.Z. Whitehead, Russ Bender, Andrea Lane, Scott Peters, Shary Marshall
- Directors:
- Ray Milland
- Producers:
- Arnold Houghland, Lou Rusoff
- Voiced By:
- Ralph Clanton
- Writers:
- Jay Simms, John Morton, Ward Moore
- Aka:
- End of the World / Survival / The End of the World
- Studio:
- Simply Home Entertainment
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers
- Collections:
- inema Paradiso's 2023 Centenary Club: Part 2, Roger Corman's Poe Cycle, A Brief History of Film...
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 18/11/2024
- Run Time:
- 92 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio Commentary by critic Richard Harland Smith
- New Interview with Kim Newman
- Ray Milland Archival Interview
- Atomic Shock! - An Interview with Filmmaker Joe Dante
- Trailer
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Reviews (1) of Panic in Year Zero
Ground-breaking 1962 B-Movie about the Aftermath of Nuclear War starring Welsh actor ray Milland - Panic in Year Zero review by PV
Ray Milland stars and directs here - he was born in 1907 in Neath, South Wales and was the first Welsh actor to win an Oscar for THE LOST WEEKEND (1945). After that he became a character actor in many B movies and on TV in the USA.
This is from 1962 and very much of the period in all ways though none the worse for that. No preachy woke sermons and lectures here! Often quaint gender roles and no colourblind casting. What a relief!
It is an early post-apocalypse story really, like 28 DAYS LATER many years later. Remember it was made in 1962 at a time of the bay of Pigs and Cuba Missile Crisis. How people would survive after a nuclear war was very much on people's minds.
I enjoyed it. Yes, it is very cartoon character and easy to mock BUT this was to my knowledge the first nuclear war film, about what happens after an attack by nuclear bombs in the USA in 1962. Low budget, but it all works.
Teen idol singer and actor Frankie Avalon (still alive in 2024 aged 84 is cast as teen idol heart-throb to get the teen audience no doubt.
4 stars. And a funky jazzy pre-Beatles soundtrack too!
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