A casserole of post-apocalyptic siege/road movie clichés and tropes, The Day tells the story of a band of armed, sick and downtrodden survivors looking for refuge and trying to stay alive. Take Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and cross-pollinate it with a couple dozen other more aggressively low-grade genre entries and the result is this very self-serious yet unoriginal offering, which doesn’t have anywhere near the imagination to match the mode of its telling.

Unfolding over the course of about 24 hours, The Day centers on a makeshift family of grungy, weary drifters (Dominic Monaghan, Shawn Ashmore, Shannyn Sossamon and Cory Hardrict) living off what they can in an irradiated wasteland. The newest member of their group is the sullen, uncommunicative Mary (Ashley Bell). With ammunition and other resources dwindling, the group takes shelter in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse, where they discover food. Unfortunately, they also set off a tripwire that summons a group of ruthless predators laying in wait. Some secrets come out, and after the requisite intense bickering, instead of fleeing, the group decides to make a stand.

Working with director of photography Boris Mojsovski, director Douglas Aarniokoski marshals an impressive display of low-budget visual palette wizardry; the color-drained, hand-held, almost entirely black-and-white cinematography (flashbacks occur in color) give the movie an undeniable sense of differentiation from many of its genre brethren. But The Day is also constructed in such a way that strives to lionize and fête its grittiness. A lot of shot selection is of the look-at-me! variety.

Bursts of violence, meant to be shocking, stud Luke Passmore’s script, which is more wan and indeterminate than mysterious and ambiguous. Since the characterizations are so thin and dialogue so lame, these bursts of action come across as desperate and grabby pleas for attention rather than unnerving markers of a civilization gone mad. And as The Day unfolds, nothing much of deeper interest or shading about its world comes into focus, making its 85-minute running time feel much longer than it is.

Then there are the performances. Given so little to work with, much of the cast falls back on bad habits and overacting (Monaghan is the notable exception). Bell (The Last Exorcism) is especially awful — all bug-eyed, “Blue Steel” intensity and pantomimed rage. Spending a Day with her is enough to make one want to end things, and sooner rather than later.

Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case in turn stored in a complementary cardboard slipcover, The Day comes to DVD presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, with a Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound audio track and optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles. Apart from the movie’s trailer, the only other bonus feature is a feature-length audio commentary track with Aarniokoski, Passmore and producer Guy Danella in which the back-slapping trio discuss stretching meager production means. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. C- (Movie) C (Disc)