No Blade Of Grass (1970)

An environmental catastrophe destroys civilization. Millions are dead, thousands are starving. Resources are used up, poisoned and polluted. Among the survivors are an architect (Nigel Davenport) and his wife (Jean Wallace) and their children. The family sets out on a desperate quest for safety in a savage and lawless world. Based on the novel THE DEATH OF GRASS by John Christopher and directed by Cornel Wilde (THE NAKED PREY). Eight years before, there was another post apocalyptic landscape movie called PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO with a similar narrative. This one is darker, nastier and bleaker. Slowly the family become as savage as their predators. Wilde isn't subtle in his direction. Early in the movie, there are images of starving African children intercut with scenes of rich Brits wolfing down food at a fancy restaurant. Rotting bodies, both human and animal, litter their journey as they are robbed, beaten and raped by human predators as brother fights brother. Wilde accomplishes his cinematic goals but to what purpose? It's not entertainment and it's surely not art. With Lynne Frederick and George Coulouris.