Can anyone identify this movie?

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killgar

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I've exhausted my efforts on Google, and with nowhere else to turn I thought I'd take a chance and ask here.

I'm looking for the name of a movie, I believe it was made sometime in the 1970's (really narrows it down huh) but it's possible it's not that old. I don't remember any actors names, I only saw it once a long time ago. I'll describe it as best I can-

A large group of people are locked in a building by the government. Maybe they're being quarantined, or maybe there has been some kind of apocalyptic event and the building is being used as an emergency shelter.

The people divide into two groups. One group has control of the food supply. The other group has to purchase food with their valuables. But eventually the ones with the food want the other groups women in exchange for food.

As I recall, the "hungry" people, after debate and discussion, agree to send over their women, on a temporary basis. But one man in the group is opposed (perhaps the husband of one of the women) and he tries to get his group to fight back. But I believe his own group turns on him considering him a threat to their safety, and their food supply. But eventually violence breaks out between the two groups.

And I seem to recall that at the end of the movie the survivors discover that their government guards, who always remained outside of the building, had been gone a long time and that the ordeal the people had gone through had basically been of their own making.

Unfortunately that's all I've got. If anyone can help I'd appreciate it :).
 
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I didn't recognize the film based on the description. My google attempts came up empty too.
 
Thanks for trying guys. And thanks for that list Piso, I'll check it out.

I came across a few post-apocalyptic movie lists in my searching, but no luck so far.

Damn, I normally have a good memory for movies, but this one really stumps me.
 
killgar said:
Damn, I normally have a good memory for movies, but this one really stumps me.
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I remember when I had a memory, and also a sense of smell. My internist says I may get smell back some day but no one nose:eek:

One possibility I forgot: you may have seen it on DUST. According to IMDb

DUST is a sci-fi brand that presents thought-provoking visions of the future by searching for the best sci-fi stories from filmmakers, writers and creators around the world. From feature films to short films, series and podcasts, DUST works with established and emerging voices.
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IMDb was more useful before Amazon bought it in 2019, but it is still reliable for things like this. The DUST Collection is mostly indie productions from 10 minute shorts to 40–80 minute feature films, and no one that I know of tracks this stuff. That could be why our searches draw blanks. DUST is on some broadcast TV stations, and I think it is a free view if you have Amazon Prime. So you could try looking there. "It was all for nothing" sounds like one of their film endings, because it saves the cost of a post-apocalyptic human world outside. I don't mean to be disparaging, it all depends on who does it. Any writer will tell you not to end by killing the hero, but Nicolai Gogol did it in "Viy" and Tolstoy called it the greatest horror story in world literature.
 
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Piso Mojado said:
I remember when I had a memory, and also a sense of smell. My internist says I may get smell back some day but no one nose:eek:

One possibility I forgot: you may have seen it on DUST. According to IMDb



IMDb was more useful before Amazon bought it in 2019, but it is still reliable for things like this. The DUST Collection is mostly indie productions from 10 minute shorts to 40–80 minute feature films, and no one that I know of tracks this stuff. That could be why our searches draw blanks. DUST is on some broadcast TV stations, and I think it is a free view if you have Amazon Prime. So you could try looking there. "It was all for nothing" sounds like one of their film endings, because it saves the cost of a post-apocalyptic human world outside. I don't mean to be disparaging, it all depends on who does it. Any writer will tell you not to end by killing the hero, but Nicolai Gogol did it in "Viy" and Tolstoy called it the greatest horror story in world literature.
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Thanks for the tip. I think I checked a list of post-apocalypse movies, and a list of quarantine movies on IMDb. I found so many lists for post-apoc movies it's hard to keep track. I went through the list from the link you provided in your first post. I didn't find the one, but it was a good source for such movies. I've already seen several on that list ;).

The movie I'm looking for was definitely low-budget. Just a group of people in a building. I'm confident the actors were American, mostly or all white. I don't remember any accents.

I had just finished watching "Greenland" (a good movie) and it caused me to remember the movie I'm looking for. I'm fascinated with the topic of how people react when civilization breaks down and the question of which side of humanity will prevail- civility, justice, and compassion, or savagery.
 
Sharp Steel said:
You may have better luck finding it if you know one of the actors that starred in it.
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That's typically what I search for when Googling for a movie when I don't know the title. But I can't remember any of the actors. It was too long ago, and I only saw it once. And its possible it didn't have any big name/memorable actors.
 
Sounds like an interesting take on the Stanford prison experiment.
 
I'd be surprised if it were a "made for tv" movie. Back then such movies were network, prime time productions. And based on the dark themes of the movie, including sex and violence, I'd be surprised if a network would give it the green light. Although I can't completely rule out the possibility. I saw the movie on tv, but it wasn't the movies first run, just an obscure, old movie on basic cable.

I have no idea where it was made. But I would have to guess it was an American production. It's possible the movie has recognizable actors but that I simply can't remember them.
 
I thought I'd provide some closure to this thread, and answer my own question. I found the movie, completely by accident. I just got done watching it on DVD, I checked it out from the library with no idea it was the same movie (talk about a coincidence). It's called "Blindness". And although I got several of the details right, I got a few wrong.

The movie was released in 2008, a lot more recently than I thought.

It stars Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo.

I got much of the plot correct- People are quarantined in a building after an outbreak of a disease (one that causes blindness). A group of men take control of the food supply, and at first demand payment in the form of jewelry, then they demand sexual service from the women. This leads to violence. Then the group leaves the building and discover their guards are gone (and enter a world where everyone is blind).

It must have been over ten years since I've seen it. And clearly I need to see a movie more than once to form a good memory of it. At least now I won't be forever tormented by not knowing what the movie was.
 
killgar said:
I thought I'd provide some closure to this thread, and answer my own question. I found the movie, completely by accident. I just got done watching it on DVD, I checked it out from the library with no idea it was the same movie (talk about a coincidence). It's called "Blindness". And although I got several of the details right, I got a few wrong.

The movie was released in 2008, a lot more recently than I thought.

It stars Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo.

I got much of the plot correct- People are quarantined in a building after an outbreak of a disease (one that causes blindness). A group of men take control of the food supply, and at first demand payment in the form of jewelry, then they demand sexual service from the women. This leads to violence. Then the group leaves the building and discover their guards are gone (and enter a world where everyone is blind).

It must have been over ten years since I've seen it. And clearly I need to see a movie more than once to form a good memory of it. At least now I won't be forever tormented by not knowing what the movie was.
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At last, some closure! Would you recommend it?
 
jux t said:
At last, some closure! Would you recommend it?
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I would. It's a dark and disturbing movie, but with a positive ending (hope I didn't spoil it).

I'm always looking for movies that might be of interest to me to check out from the library (the San Diego/California library system has a VAST inventory to choose from) and one day looking around online for movies I stumbled across some list like "The most disturbing movies ever made" which certainly peaked my interest, and "Blindness" was on the list. I didn't recognize the description of it (a very different description than the one I provided in this thread), and I was intrigued by how it was described as a very disturbing movie, and luckily the library had it.

Like I said in post #6, I'm drawn to movies about the collapse of civilization because I'm fascinated with how people react under such conditions. In particular- the question of which side of humanity will prevail when there is no government authority or laws to punish them- the good side, or the bad. As well as how people act when they become desperate for basic needs like food. And "Blindness" is a good movie in that genre.
 
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I saw a movie as a kid and tried find it years later with only a semi-accurrate description.

It is quiet old, about a boy with inexplicable green hair and a message for humanity.

I found it recently on YouTube, will try find it.

ETA: Here's a major scene, I saw it in B&W. The scene is in colour, did they even have colour in 1948 when it was made?

 
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killgar said:
Like I said in post #6, I'm drawn to movies about the collapse of civilization because I'm fascinated with how people react under such conditions.
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Watch "the cube" takes a while to figure out what's going on. Premise is exactly what you are looking for except for a small group, not all of civilization.

Please let me know what you think if you watch it, one of my fave movies.

Warning R rated - graphic horror scenes.

 
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Houlahound said:
I saw a movie as a kid and tried find it years later with only a semi-accurrate description.

It is quiet old, about a boy with inexplicable green hair and a message for humanity.

I found it recently on YouTube, will try find it.

ETA: Here's a major scene, I saw it in B&W. The scene is in colour, did they even have colour in 1948 when it was made?

Click to expand...

Now that's one I could have identified. I've never seen it, but I know of it and for some reason I know that it stars a young Dean Stockwell (an actor I'm familiar with from several adult roles).
 
Houlahound said:
Watch "the cube" takes a while to figure out what's going on. Premise is exactly what you are looking for except for a small group, not all of civilization.

Please let me know what you think if you watch it, one of my fave movies.

Warning R rated - graphic horror scenes.

Click to expand...

If you're talking about the movie by that title from 1997 staring Nicole Deboer I just checked my local library system and they have it in my county. I have reserved it, it could take about a week to arrive, maybe less. I'll let you know what I think of it.
 
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