Seventeen-year old Kendal (Haley Lu Richardson) barely remembers what the lush Oregon valley was like and she now searches for a part to start an airplane in a water dry valley that hasn’t seen rain in a decade.  She plays hide and seek with Carson (Jon Gries)- the greedy water baron- who kills the people who want to hold onto their homes and use what he thinks is his water.   She cares for an injured young man (Booboo Stewart) while she must make a choice to flee or fight.  THE LAST SURVIVORS (originally titled The Well) is an interesting take on the post-apocalyptic genre by focusing on a teenage girl trying to get out and she only fights when it is the only option left.  Haley Lu Richardson is great in this drought filled future Oregon which looks more like Death Valley or California desert.  It is a nightmare about water hording in a movie where character development isn’t that deep and you get to see a teenage girl kick ass (and kill bad guys) with a gun, knife, hatchet, and even a samurai sword.  Also it is nice to see a couple of genre actors like Jon Gries show up in the role of bad guys.  It is an entertaining and well shot/ directed low budget sci-fi movie.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Two audio commentaries which the director refers to the movie by its previous title, THE WELL-

Filmmaker commentary with writer/ director Tom Hammock and writer/ producer Jacob Forman

Cast  commentary with writer/ director Tom Hammock, and actors Haley Lu Richardson, Booboo Stewart, Michael McCartney, and Max Charles

 

Two deleted scenes (with optional commentary by writer/ director Tom Hammock) with both scenes being cut for either not having money for special effects and/or pacing reasons

 

Behind-the-scenes footage from the production itself

Haley Lu Richardson audition along with a phone video of her accepting the part

Slideshow of behind-the-scene stills

Trailer for THE LAST SURVIVORS in addition to previews for other films from Dark Sky Films

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  If you want a breezy fun low budget post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie out in the desert while you wait for the next Resident Evil or Mad Max film, THE LAST SURVIVORS is at least worth your time renting

 

This review is ©8-25-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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