Astronauts Newman (a solid and sincere performance by Steve Barkett) and Matthews (well played by Larry Latham) return to Earth only to discover that a nuclear holocaust has caused civilization to collapse and subsequently degenerate into a harsh barbaric state. Newman must protect himself and several other people from the evil Cutter (Sid Haig in fine nasty form) and his gang of vicious outlaw bikers. Writer/director Barkett maintains a tough gritty tone throughout (for example, both women and children are brutally killed), relates the engrossing story at a snappy pace, stages the exciting action set pieces with flair, and delivers a chilling "adapt or die" central message. The moments of raw violence and stark savagery pack a fierce punch. The special effects are quite good considering the modest budget. Moreover, the fetching Lynne Margulies provides plenty of spark as the plucky Sarah, Forrest J. Ackerman has a small, but memorable role as a dying museum curator, and Dick Miller's voice can be heard on a tape recorder. The sharp cinematography by Dennis Skotak and Thomas F. Denove gives this picture an impressive polished look. John W. Morgan's robust score hits the rousing spot. An on the money indie winner.

After knowing it "inspired" DEFCON-4, I went in search for this film, since I'm addicted to PA (Post-Apocalyptic) movies. I don't care about budget and technical limitations. I'd rather focus on the feel and the honesty of the work. And in this field, The Aftermath really shines. The history and characters easily overlook the obvious low budget restrictions and put to shame many hi budget counterparts.The premise is: 3 astronauts come back to Earth after a long space mission, just to find it destroyed by nuclear war. One of them die on the spaceship forced landing, and the other two must find their way through the new and haunting reality of a nuked world, facing radiation, mutants, marauders and the lack of hope for the future.The dialog, acting and the action scenes are somewhat laughable, but no one can deny the fact that there's an obvious labor of love beneath each take. OTOH, inventive (altough simplistic) visual effects, a huge and loud soundtrack and the voice-over only adds to the bleak atmosphere. There are effective sequences like the radioactive rain, the dead city landscapes and the corpses on the beach. Surely they're the film highlights.A great movie despite the low budget restraints, and much better than the most contemporary (and some newer) PA movies.

This movie is pretty entertaining really. It borrows from The Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man or The Last Man on Earth, and The Stand among others (although every movie borrows from something). Yet the movie still has a style all its own and while it is mostly a very funny movie that was supposed to be serious, it does offer a bit of creativity. Has several scenes that most directors would not have included, that's not a bad thing. A good movie for the fatalist. Worth watching for everyone else. Except kids I guess, there are some scenes of gore. (head explodes, a knife through the head via the eye, lots of bullets flying, dead bloody kid, mutants, and decayed bodies).

A fabulous music score evocative of the Great Bernard Herrman films. It has a full symphonic original music score on a low budget movie!Landmark effects by the soon to be famous Skotak Brothers(3 time Academy Award Winners for ALIENS, ABYSS and TERMINATOR 2). This low budget film transcends the usual genre limitations, and deals with its subject matter on an emotional as well as visual level. That may be one of the reasons it is so disturbing to some, and so misunderstood by others. At a recent international sci fi convention it was voted among the best "end of the world movies" ever made. I saw it on laser and highly recommend it.