Saturday, July 28, 2012

Where Have All the People Gone?

Where Have All the People Gone? (1974) is a made for TV movie starring Peter Graves, George O'Hanlon Jr. and Kathleen Quinlan.  While camping in the Sierra Nevadas, the Anders family discovers that everyone has evaporated into dust (very similar looking effect as in the later film Night of the Comet but no zombies here).  We discover later there has been a severe solar flare which caused everyone to catch a virus and die.  Only a few people were immune.  The explanation for the disappearances doesn't make a whole lot of sense but is only the backdrop for why the family is left alone to fend for themselves.  On the way home to find out if the mother has survived, the father, son and daughter find a couple of other people to bring with them.  There is not a lot going on in this movie.  Really, the family meets very little jeopardy on the journey home through the mostly deserted cities - wild dogs and someone who steals their car.  The story is mainly the family dynamics and discovering that they want to survive in this new world.  Peter Graves is good as usual as the father.