On the beach

SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT

"Where have all the people gone", with Peter Graves as lead actor, is a surprisingly good disaster film from 1974. At least it was better than I expected. But yes, it could have needed more action. Very often, the film felt like "The Day of the Animals"...without the actual animals.

A mysterious solar flare makes most humans die and evaporate (!). Meanwhile, dogs and cats go mad while survivors are getting desperate in the usual fashion. Eventually, the exact cause of the calamity is revealed: the solar flare has activated a bizarre virus, but a few humans have immunity due to a recessive gene. Despite everything, "Where have all the people gone" ends on a positive note, with the survivors attempting to create a new civilization on a beach in northern California.

This must be Derrick Jensen's favourite film. The sun (or Mother Nature) destroys most of Homo "sapiens", while the lucky few who makes it decide to live a carefree hippie lifestyle...

Well, who needs all those people if this is what awaits us around the corner?