A renegade shock jock must hear the screams of murder as a brutal zombie infection takes over the city in this uninspired and forgettable thriller.
Although Dead Air is playful and whimsical to begin with, and a sense of dread and desperation looms as the plague takes over, the film quickly descends into tedium as it becomes apparent that most of it takes place in the studio, leaving little adventure to chew on. Action is brief, scenes are stretched out far too long, performances are wacky at best and the lack of visual material leaves you wondering if a shorter film or even an audio-only production would have been a better arrangement.
And its attempt to critically investigate the political and ethical matter of terrorism in media leave much to be desired. Despite Bill Moseley’s fearsome big-balls attitude, Dead Air’s conclusions are timid and nervous when tackling the impact of shock media in society, especially when it comes to the role of the government. What a shame, because it’s such a good subject: the area of shocking events and our media’s presentation of them is arguably a force of glorification, which the movie completely overlooks, preferring to sit on the fence and cling onto the safe conclusions which media companies have decided themselves.
Rating: 3/10
Possession Media 