The Battery- a seriously underrated 2012 zombie apocalypse thriller.

What images come to mind when you think of the zombie apocalypse genre? You may recall the sleek and sexy characters of the Resident Evil franchise, or the violence soaked 2021 movie Army of the Dead and its amazing special effects. Or perhaps you're partial to a certain motorcycle riding loner who's an expert at wielding a crossbow on The Walking Dead. These examples are well acted, well produced, valuable assets to the zombie apocalypse genre.

But what if I told you that a 2012 video-on-demand zombie apocalypse movie with a production budget of just $6,000 was just as valuable to the zombie apocalypse genre as those other blockbuster movies?

The Battery was written, directed and starred in by Jeremy Gardner who, along with Adam Cronheim, manages to expertly resuscitate the dying genre. This indie film, which clocks in at 1 hour and 41 minutes, follows the day-to-day trials of two softball players turned post apocalypse buddies whose personalities clash for most of the movie.

Ben, portrayed by Gardner, is comfortable roaming the empty roads of New England, scavenging and sleeping on the run. Mickey, portrayed by Cronheim, sulks through the movie dreaming of pre-apocalyptic society. He’s often found listening to music on his headphones in an attempt to hide from the world. Ben has clearly adapted better to the harsh realities they face. He does all the survival work while Mickey sponges off him. This does, however, change halfway through the movie in a harrowing scene where Mickey is forced to confront reality.

The Battery gains a lot of its atmosphere and tension from its carefully assembled soundtrack. It’s peppered with musical gems such as Anthem For The Already Defeated by Rock Plaza Central and There Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down) preformed by Chris Eaton. These songs, which lend their country and blues flavor to the film, compliment the nomadic lifestyle the two characters have adopted and the abandoned landscape they roam.

About half of the film is filled with simple scenarios that end up giving us a profound look into what a zombie apocalypse, or any apocalypse, could really be like. Unfortunately, these scenes are what critics often refer to when criticizing the film as boring. However, these are the scenes most praised by fans of the film. Because of this dichotomy in reviews, it’s probably best to give this movie your undivided attention while watching. There will be no shiny, dramatic cascade of spent bullets flying through the air to distract you from your phone screen. That is, however, one of The Battery’s biggest strengths.

After its release, The Battery went on to snag eleven festival awards; including the Gold Audience Award, Best Screenplay, Best Music and Best Poster from the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. It also did pretty well over on Rotten Tomatoes; getting an 80% on the "tomatometer" from critics.

With all these accolades it might be logical to assume that this was a carefully written and precisely scripted movie. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The entire movie took fifteen days to film and none of the scenes were planned in advance. Gardner admitted in an interview to casting Cronheim only a month before filming. He also described buying and gathering props only two days before filming. Locations and filming times were often changed to accommodate cast availability and filming usually felt rushed.

With a production budget of just $6,000 and a decidedly unknown cast at the time of filming, The Battery offers a surprisingly original, authentic and much needed human approach to what survival and friendship might entail in a zombie infested post-apocalyptic world.