The collapse of law and order in the period after a nuclear attack was a common theme in the post war era, particularly on television. Most stories of this type ended up on TV "playhouses", which are rarely rerun now, so this story may now seem more unusual now than it was at the time.Actually, this movie came at the tail end of the period.
It is very well made, and, like the original movie "The Thing", shows what can be done by a good director with a good script and decent actors even on a low budget.It certainly shows how the worst comes out(in the worst people) under circumstances like this.The criticism of Milland and his family for certain drastic measures, is, I feel, unwarranted.They don't use force unless there is no choice, and then only as much as necessary.There is a difference between killing out of necessity and killing for the sheer joy of doing so, as the three punks did.As far as obeying the "rules" of civilization, even under normal circumstances you are responsible for your own safety most of the time.The authorities aren't going to guard your home;YOU have to.And when order completely breaks down,each person becomes his own law,answerable to his own conscience and principles.Milland and his son didn't turn into fiends because there was no "authority" to control them;when they rescued the rape victim they didn't treat her as a "prize" to be used for their own pleasure,they acted in a decent and civilized manner.Actually, their main misjudgment was in allowing the three punks to escape when they first encountered them.By proposing to murder Milland in cold blood they condemned themselves.Milland and his son should have executed them on the spot when they had the chance;it was obviously inevitable that if these PREDATORS were allowed to escape that they would kill someone else, as in fact they did. As far as "taking them prisoner", that was so obviously totally impossible under the circumstances as not to be worth discussing.Killing is a grim business, but sometimes it has to be done. But someone who does it out of unavoidable necessity is not a monster;someone who does it casually and for laughs, IS.
By the way, I went through Hurricane Katrina(which did little damage here in New Orleans) and more important,Barthelemy's Flood, which is what ruined the city west of the Industrial Canal,and I can tell you that "breakdown of order" as described by the news media was colossally exaggerated.It was no where near as dangerous as described.
It is very well made, and, like the original movie "The Thing", shows what can be done by a good director with a good script and decent actors even on a low budget.It certainly shows how the worst comes out(in the worst people) under circumstances like this.The criticism of Milland and his family for certain drastic measures, is, I feel, unwarranted.They don't use force unless there is no choice, and then only as much as necessary.There is a difference between killing out of necessity and killing for the sheer joy of doing so, as the three punks did.As far as obeying the "rules" of civilization, even under normal circumstances you are responsible for your own safety most of the time.The authorities aren't going to guard your home;YOU have to.And when order completely breaks down,each person becomes his own law,answerable to his own conscience and principles.Milland and his son didn't turn into fiends because there was no "authority" to control them;when they rescued the rape victim they didn't treat her as a "prize" to be used for their own pleasure,they acted in a decent and civilized manner.Actually, their main misjudgment was in allowing the three punks to escape when they first encountered them.By proposing to murder Milland in cold blood they condemned themselves.Milland and his son should have executed them on the spot when they had the chance;it was obviously inevitable that if these PREDATORS were allowed to escape that they would kill someone else, as in fact they did. As far as "taking them prisoner", that was so obviously totally impossible under the circumstances as not to be worth discussing.Killing is a grim business, but sometimes it has to be done. But someone who does it out of unavoidable necessity is not a monster;someone who does it casually and for laughs, IS.
By the way, I went through Hurricane Katrina(which did little damage here in New Orleans) and more important,Barthelemy's Flood, which is what ruined the city west of the Industrial Canal,and I can tell you that "breakdown of order" as described by the news media was colossally exaggerated.It was no where near as dangerous as described.