Panic in Year Zero! (End of the World) (1962)

63% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
63% of users liked it
(572 ratings)

Ray Milland both starred in and directed the morose, minimalist sci-fier Panic in the Year Zero! (original title: Panic in Year Zero!). En route from Los Angeles to a vacation in the mountains, Harry Baldwin (Milland), his wife, Ann (Jean Hagen), and his teen-aged children, Rick (Frankie Avalon) and… More Ray Milland both starred in and directed the morose, minimalist sci-fier Panic in the Year Zero! (original title: Panic in Year Zero!). En route from Los Angeles to a vacation in the mountains, Harry Baldwin (Milland), his wife, Ann (Jean Hagen), and his teen-aged children, Rick (Frankie Avalon) and Karen (Mary Mitchell), are appalled to see a mushroom cloud forming over the L.A. skyline. With the highways clogged by panicking motorists, Milland and his family decide to head to the shelter of their fishing spot, there to wait until more news about the nuclear disaster is available. Everywhere they drive, however, the family is confronted by rampaging looters, heavily armed survivalists, and doped-up motorcycle punks. Attempting to remain calm and collected in the face of Armageddon, Milland ends up as violent and animalistic as everyone else. Though it avoids proselytizing for the most part, Panic in the Year Zero! does fall back on the old reliable "The Beginning" fadeout title. The most powerful aspect of the film is the "normalcy" of Milland's family: we are made to feel throughout that what happens to them could very well happen to us, and how then would we react? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Ray Milland
Written By: John Morton, Jay Simms
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Jul 5, 1962 Wide
On DVD: Nov 29, 2005
Studio: Orion Home Video

Critic Reviews

Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Mais um fruto da paranóia coletiva gerada pela Guerra Fria, o filme conta com algumas boas idéias, mas é esquemático demais para aproveitá-las a contento.
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
A silly atomic war story with the prerequisite AIP juvenile delinquents and cheap look.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Intriguing low-budget opus that now seems like a time-capsule of nuclear paranoia
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The only thing that was hard to fully approve of in Panic in Year Zero!, was Milland's selfish philosophy for survival -- it was simply not a very human one.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

This is a really good apocalyptic movie, with an interesting cast, and a good story. I'd really like to re-watch it, though, I can't remember it very well.
First L

Did Ray Milland's B-movie epic "Panic in the Year Zero" serve as an inspiration for Cormic MaCarthy's "The Road"? I'm not sure. But I do know that just ten short years after starring in "Singin' in the Rain", the beautiful and… More
Did Ray Milland's B-movie epic "Panic in the Year Zero" serve as an inspiration for Cormic MaCarthy's "The Road"? I'm not sure. But I do know that just ten short years after starring in "Singin' in the Rain", the beautiful and talented Jean Hagen was reduced to playing Frankie Avalon's mother (and she was only 39 at the time- only in the movies could a 57-year old man be married to a 39-year old woman and have a 22-year old son together). A nice, California family wakes up at the crack of dawn, loads up the camping trailer, and heads out for a weekend fishing expedition. Some miles outside of Los Angeles, they hear sounds they hear sounds of thunder, but when they look back and see a mushroom cloud, they realize World War III has broken out. From then on, it's a race for survival as people become more desperate. Milland not only directs but stars as the Mad Max-ian survialist father, and Frankie Avalon plays a twerpy yet potentially homicidial teenager. The mother and daughter are almost reduced to decorative furniture (apart from an attempted rape scene) and really, the end of the world is no place for a lady anyway. It's at times a fairly dramatic and suspenseful movie and at others it delves down into the cheese, but that doesn't stop it from being entertaining none the less.
Michael G

For a movie about the apocalypse, Panic in Year Zero came across as claustrophobic. It's reasonably groundbreaking for its time on a gruesomeness level with a rape scene and by actually showing dead bodies. This movie reminded me of a modern zombie movie without the zombies.… More
For a movie about the apocalypse, Panic in Year Zero came across as claustrophobic. It's reasonably groundbreaking for its time on a gruesomeness level with a rape scene and by actually showing dead bodies. This movie reminded me of a modern zombie movie without the zombies. Although nothing truly stands out as far as acting or direction's concerned and everything seems to inexplicably get wrapped up conveniently, Panic in Year Zero isn't a bad watch. The worst thing about this movie is undoubtedly Les Baxter's Mancini-esque score that couldn't be more distracting or inappropriate if it was performed entirely with kazoos. If nothing else it made me anticipate the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" all the more.
Daniel H

The Grapes of Wrath meets Xenophon's Persian Expedition, with healthy amounts of Cold-War propaganda mixed in, and diluted down into a campy 1950's morality tale about what it means to be civilized. You have your characteristic no-good greasers, a young woman in need of… More
The Grapes of Wrath meets Xenophon's Persian Expedition, with healthy amounts of Cold-War propaganda mixed in, and diluted down into a campy 1950's morality tale about what it means to be civilized. You have your characteristic no-good greasers, a young woman in need of rescuing, a nagging and worrysome housewife, and a father who knows best. When their afternoon fishing trip is interrupted by a small-scale nuclear war which drives the populace into barbarism and cruelty, they begin resorting to equally brutal tactics to defend themselves. While tension and fear are prime motivators, the actual expression of that tension is lacking. The films script and acting admirably give life to a truly catastrophic event, but the surroundings never seem as threatening as everyone lets on: the only truly despicable characters are a recurring band of outrageously villainous teenage hoodlums, and a few price-gouging storeclerks. In the end, it is the family themselves who interact with the world in panicked and barbaric ways... and this is where the film shines. A promising film that ends up being dragged down by silly 1950's value judgments and stereotypes, and a poorly budgeted and fleshed-out setting.
Bruce B

Have to give this one 4 1/2 stars, its a great survival movie. And they snuck Frankie Avalon in there on me. And with actors with the first name of Rex, Willis, O.Z., How can a movie be that bad. This movie came out right around the time of the Cuban Missile crisis, and I am sure it… More
Have to give this one 4 1/2 stars, its a great survival movie. And they snuck Frankie Avalon in there on me. And with actors with the first name of Rex, Willis, O.Z., How can a movie be that bad. This movie came out right around the time of the Cuban Missile crisis, and I am sure it frighten a few people. Its a good film with lessons learned for today as you never know with the way things are in the world, survival may become our lifestyle soon. I got this on a MGM Double feature for $6.95, worth every penny. And I would add it to any collection.