Small town paranoia meets bioterrorism in this forgotten Canadian thriller where your mother-in-law might be the least of your problems.
When cattle mysteriously start dying of anthrax in a small Alberta ranching community, an RCMP officer tries to keep the peace as ranchers lay the blame on a local agricultural research center. A reporter encourages the angry ranchers - led by the Mountie's mother-in-law - to stage a sit-in at the research center. When an eccentric old rancher dies after being exposed to a deadly strain of anthrax, the protesters are quarantined. No one notices that the reporter has disappeared - along with several vials of the deadly bacteria. The RCMP officer begins his own investigation, gleaning information from a U.S. government agent. He finds himself racing against time to recover the stolen anthrax.
Acting
Joanna Cassidy commits harder than this material deserves.
Production
Alberta locations give authentic rural dread on a budget.
Writing
The reporter villain twist hits different post-2016.
Director
Rick Stevenson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released mere months before the actual 2001 anthrax attacks, this film became accidentally prophetic and immediately dated.
William B. Davis (the Cigarette Smoking Man from X-Files) appears as Tye Crow, bringing his signature government-conspiracy energy to a film that desperately needed it.
CA
US
