With eerie empty street scenes akin to 28 Days Later, this 80s sci-fi flick follows a lone scientist spiralling into madness. And its psychological terror is as haunting as ever
Years before Peter Jackson made The Lord of the Rings trilogy, cementing New Zealand’s film industry as a commercial force to be reckoned with, and decades ahead of the sparse and atmospheric Backrooms, 1985’s The Quiet Earth was an early adopter of social isolation as 21st century horror – and it captured that dread and anxiety on a tiny budget.
Based on the 1981 novel of the same name, The Quiet Earth examined what happens when humans and animals seemingly vanish without a trace. It follows scientist Zac (Bruno Lawrence), whose workplace inadvertently causes an apocalyptic catastrophe, and who quickly spirals into megalomaniac madness due to his extreme isolation.
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