It’s silly, sometimes brutal, and borderline campy but manages to be entertaining and highly watchable.
Sometimes a movie maker’s ambition outweighs the budget with which they have to work. That doesn’t always make the resulting movie a bad one. Sometimes, it actually adds some charm to the final product. One case of this is The Aftermath, a 1982 post-apocalyptic, science-fiction film written, directed, produced, and starring one Steve Barkett. Barkett clearly had a vision for what he wanted to portray onscreen. What he didn’t have was money. (But he did have time. The film took three years to complete.)
Made for an estimated $250,000, The Aftermath is about two astronauts who arrive back on Earth after a year-long mission. Discovering that humanity has been mostly wiped out by a nuclear holocaust, the astronauts — Newman (Barkett) and Matthews (Larry Latham) — fight off vicious mutants before wandering into what’s left of Los Angeles. They hole up in an abandoned mansion and Newman ventures out to figure out what happened while they were gone.
Newman discovers that any survivors must avoid running into Cutter (Sid Haig) and his gang of gun-toting thugs. Cutter and his men round up and kill any men they find and rape and imprison the women. When Sarah (Lynne Margulies) escapes Cutter’s camp, she teams up with Newman, Matthews, and a young boy named Chris (Christopher Barkett) to fight Cutter and his men.
The Aftermath clumsily combines elements of zombie movies, 70s exploitation films, action movies, and even Planet of the Apes into an endearingly awkward production. Steve Barkett does not look like an action hero but he clearly fancies himself as one. Writing his character into a hilarious number of shoot-outs, fist-fights, and flat-out brawls, Barkett becomes a one-man army years before Schwarzenegger did it in Commando. Clearly, the stunt work is performed by amateurs and, in most instances, it looks like first-takes were used regardless if everyone hit their marks. I can almost hear Barkett yelling, “Cut! Close enough! Next scene!”
Obviously, Barkett didn’t just want to make a straight-up action movie. As a result, Newman, the ersatz warrior, also has a softer side. He becomes a surrogate father to the young Chris and teaches him lessons about the importance of family and that death isn’t something to fear. There are several tender scenes between Newman and Chris that echo their real-life father-son relationship. His interactions with Sarah are also pleasantly devoid of machismo. (Barkett and Lynne Margulies were a real-life couple as well.)
Adding to the film’s charm are a stellar musical score by John Morgan, an over-the-top performance by Sid Haig, voice-over work by Dick Miller, excellent matte paintings by Robert Skotak, and an extended cameo by Forrest J Ackerman (complete with prop rings from The Mummy and Dracula.)
At face value, The Aftermath is just a bad movie. The special effects are shoddy, the makeup is poorly done, the stunt work is suspect, and the acting is, at best, uneven. Yet, the earnestness of the entire production elevates the film above schlock. It’s apparent that this was not made just to earn a few bucks at the drive-in. Barkett wanted to make his movie his way. It’s silly, sometimes brutal, and borderline campy but manages to be entertaining and highly watchable. It’s a cult classic that deserves a much bigger cult.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Buy on Amazon!
