Sickness on the Silver Screen Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ebola

The film was released in 2002. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland were attempting to comment on social rage in society, making it a point that the virus brought out characteristics in a person which are already there which ultimately turned them into something else entirely.

They felt like the traditional theme of zombies wanting to eat human brains was outdated and were also inspired by the recent anthrax attacks and bio-terrorism scares in London. Ebola, a newly emerging disease at the time, was selected for its particularly frightening symptoms and its mode of transmission.

The film was shot almost entirely in sequence and filmed in a real hospital (with permission, of course).

Answer: Betsy

Betsy had been smuggled to America from Zaire where the original outbreak occurred. The Ebola like virus named Motaba in the film mutated to become airborne prompting a military issued quarantine of the California town. While the movie is largely unrealistic, there was an outbreak of Ebola occurring in Zaire at the time of release.

Answer: The blood in the body clots completely.

The film was an adaptation of the 1969 novel by Micheal Crichton. In the movie Dr. Hall cuts open a corpse to reveal that his blood has clotted and turned into a powder. One of the only two initial survivors had been drinking Sterno to relieve his stomach ulcer. It is revealed that the abnormally high acidity of his blood may have prevented the microorganism from flourishing.

Answer: As a cure for for cancer

In the film, Robert Neville uses his own blood to discover a cure for the vampire-like mutants called Darkseekers. He broadcasts his experiments in the hope that someone may be listening. While oncolytic viruses have prompted numerous experiments to target cancer cells in real life, the likelihood of one of these experiments prompting an apocalypse is slim to none.

The first treatment using a genetically re-engineered herpes virus was approved by the FDA to help treat melanoma in 2015 with others on the way.

Answer: An exotic flower

The West African double stranded RNA retrovirus was produced naturally by a potent flower known as Sonnentreppe. The locals called the virus "Stairway of the Sun" and young warriors consumed the flower to gain super-human strength and size. This was a gamble as the virus killed most who consumed it.

In the first film staring Milla Jovovich, Alice must battle the Umbrella Corporation who have triggered a zombie apocalypse with their biological weapons. The Umbrella Corporation had sought out the Progenitor virus for its unique mutagenic properties.

Answer: Infertility

In the movie, two decades of infertility have decimated the population. Although the cause of the infertility is never explained, plague and radiation devastate this post apocalyptic world which pays homage to many European tragedies such as the Holocaust, Influenza, Mad Cow disease, Chernobyl and London Bombings.

While this affliction may lack the scare factor associated with zombies or hemorrhagic fever, the effects are just as devastating. The film was nominated for multiple awards for its thought provoking exploration of religion and politics.

Answer: Plague

In the movie Tom Payne plays Rob Cole, an orphan who aspires to study medicine in 11th century Persia after his mother contracts side sickness (now known as appendicitis). In order to attend, he disguises himself as a Jew to travel to Muslim territory.

At this time Christians were being prosecuted for medical practice which was tied to witchcraft. After a man infected with The Black Death is sent to the city, Cole traces the outbreak to oriental rat fleas.

Answer: Virus

Thrax, voiced by Laurence Fishburne, is nicknamed the 'Red Death'. He plans to hijack the brain's hypothalamus in order to cause a fatal fever. The movie was a combination of live action and animation. It later inspired a cartoon with the same characters on Cartoon Network from 2002-2003.

Answer: Cassandra Complex

One of the unique aspects of this movie is how it plays with the concepts of time and memory. The Cassandra Complex term was coined in 1949 by French philosopher Gaston Bachelard referring to a belief that future events can be known in advance. The movie is based on a french short film "La Jetée", which depicts a post nuclear war time travel experiment in a series of still images.

Answer: Pig

Screenwriter Scott Burns wanted to make the film as realistic as possible prompting him to consult the World Health Organization and leading epidemiological exerts. MEV-1 was inspired by the very real Nipah virus-- a deadly infection which can lead to acute encephalitis.

It is thought to be spread by sick pigs infected by fruit bats. While the virus has only led to a few limited outbreaks thus far, little is known about the virus, and there is massive public health concern due to its ability to cause severe disease and death in humans.