The Day the World Ended (2001) Reviews

A woman trying to help a disturbed child discovers his nightmarish fears are all too real in this sci-fi horror opus. Dr. Jennifer Stillman (Nastassja Kinski) is a child psychologist from New York City who takes a job working at an elementary school in a small Nevada community. Jennifer is seen as an unwelcome outsider by most of her neighbors and colleagues, but she does strike up a rapport with Ben (Bobby Edner), a troubled young student. Ben is haunted by fears he has a hard time talking about, and she learns that his mother died under unexplained circumstances -- a matter his father (Randy Quaid) is equally reticent to discuss. As Jennifer struggles to get to the bottom of Ben's traumas, she learns that a monster from another world and a terrible secret the town has been trying to hide are both parts of the puzzle. The Day the World Ended was loosely adapted from Roger Corman's 1956 film of the same name, which was the first monster movie the B-movie icon made for American-International Pictures; this version was created as part of the made-for-cable "Creature Features" series. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi