The Battery written, directed and starring Jeremy Gardner is an emotional 100 minutes and 23 seconds of a zombie film. Like most zombie films, the story revolves around the humans involved. In this case it’s baseball players Ben (Gardner) and Mickey (Adam Cronheim). The two have been on the run from zombies for some time, and are surviving well. While Ben has to kill any of the undead that cross their path, it’s ok, because he is happy to do so as he has Mickey as a companion in the desolate world, which they now live. However, everything changes when the two find a set of walkie talkies. Soon they hear a radio transmission and the voice of a woman, Annie. Mickey becomes obsessed with Annie, which literally leads the friends down a path they shouldn’t travel.

I’ve reviewed a lot of movies for Bloody-Disgusting. I’ve reviewed a lot of bad movies, at that. And I’ve reviewed a lot of movies made on huge budgets, over a long period of time, that are just awful.

Check out these specs:

Shot On: DSLR (Canon 5D Mark ii) with Zeiss Lenses

Edited With: Adobe Premiere on a Windows PC

Budget: $6,000

Shoot Length: 16 days

The Battery is good. It’s damn good. For everything listed above, this movie is outrageously, insanely good. I went into this movie not reading the press kit info and watched it for what it was. Afterwards, I literally clapped and yelled “Brav-f***ing-O!” when I saw the specs. Jeremy Gardner, make more movies.

It isn’t just the above information that makes The Battery good. It’s the attention to detail. Ben and Mickey have been wandering, scavenging, living life the best way they can. Mickey has been longing for that normality they once had. The moment he hears Annie, you see that click inside him. The horrid longing for a woman and he’s hooked. You feel for Mickey in that moment. He just wants what he once had. While he is dreaming of that world, Ben has resigned to their apocalyptic reality. He ensures that Annie is not the gorgeous image inside Mickey’s head.

Mickey’s anguish is perfectly summed up not much later in the film. While taking a nap in the car – and with Ben nowhere around – Mickey is attacked by a female zombie. For a moment he thinks to call for help, but as the zombie girl presses her breasts against the car window, Mickey’s instincts turn on. And you can’t blame him. With Annie’s voice in his head, there is no reason he wouldn’t immediately do what he does. Gardner sets up a completely plausible situation in a completely realistic vision of an apocalyptic world.

Even better, earlier in the film, the two friends find toothbrushes and toothpaste. For a minute we see their ecstasy in the act of simply brushing their teeth. At first I felt the use of music and somewhat montage-like episodes were long running, however, after rethinking it – everything that happens in those long scenes is exactly what survivors would be doing. Whether it be brushing their teeth, or draining the juice from canned chicken to later use for hydration, the little details within The Battery are spot on.

The Battery proves something about the depths of the horror genre. There is very little gore, there is very little action – however the cinematic quality and the emotionally charged atmosphere are sculpted in the right manor to make it an excellent example of what can truly be considered horror. The film is set to premiere with a worldwide digital release in June. I eagerly await its debut. It is deserving of all the positive publicity it will receive.