Movie Talk
Panic in Year Zero (1962)
The nuclear family versus a nuclear war! The fifties weren't yet over in 1962, but this movie shows good American values starting to crumble. Dad is a capable, warm but distant ruler of the family, mom is falling apart but clinging to the hope that society will hold together; Frankie Avalon is the fresh-faced but bloodthirsty teenage boy, and the sweet teen sister is a tragedy waiting to happen. Dad's professional veneer starts to give way when supplies run low--the law of the land is replaced with well-timed punches to the nose, and then to the law of the gun. Mom keeps falling apart, Frankie Avalon gets to shoot a dirtbag, and sweet teen sister's only responsibility is to not get raped. It's a surprisingly dark movie for its time--though the peppy jazz soundtrack tries to keep things light. Zombie movie fans will see this film as the primitive ancestor of the genre. The conclusion--a qualified happy ending--feels like a departure from the rest of the movie's tone. The message is that positive family values conquer all--at least while America is the baddest superpower on the block.