The most terrifying pandemic-themed movies

Quarantining at home? Here are films about viruses and widespread diseases that you can watch

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The Cassandra Crossing (1976)

The most terrifying pandemic-themed movies 1

Directed by George Pan Cosmatos, The Cassandra Crossing is about a deadly virus planted by Swedish terrorists on a transcontinental passenger train. Onboard are the glamorous Jennifer Chamberlain (Sophia Loren) and her ex-husband, Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain (Richard Harris), as well as Nicole Dressler (Ava Gardner) and her young lover, Robby (Martin Sheen). The quartet, together with the other passengers, can’t get off because they may expose the rest of the world to the virus. One solution proposed is to quarantine them by rerouting the train over the unstable bridge called Cassandra Crossing. Dr. Chamberlain wants to save them but has to battle the terrorists first.

Though called by some critics as “an unintentional parody of a disaster film,” The Cassandra Crossing features some terrifying moments, including the graphic scenes of the passengers being killed at the end of the film, which had ensured an “R” rating in theatres and led to two “censored” and “uncensored” versions for broadcast and home media.

Interesting facts about BTS
  • The group name, “BTS” stands for the Korean expression Bangtan Sonyeondan which translates to “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. Band member J-Hope said that they chose this name because it represents BTS’s desire “to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets.” But that isn’t the only meaning behind the name. In 2017, BTS said, as part of their new brand identity, that their name would also stand for Beyond the Scene” which extended their name to mean “growing youth BTS who is going beyond the realities they are facing, and going forward.”
  • BTS was originally intended to be a hip-hop group, similar to YG Entertainment’s 1TYM. This was because Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-hyuk met with RM and was very impressed by his rapping talents. However, Bang Si-hyuk changed his mind and decided that today’s youth needed “a hero who can lend them a shoulder to lean on, even without speaking a single word.”
  • BTS has said that all of the following musicians have inspired their music; Post Malone, Eminem, Seo Taiji and Boys, Nas, Kanye West, Drake, Charlie Puth, Danger, and Queen.
  • The band’s first English-language single, “Dynamite”, was released on August 21st. Its video broke the YouTube record for the most viewed music video premiere, grabbing the attention of three million viewers, and it set a new record for the most viewed video on the first day of release. “Dynamite” is also the first music video on YouTube to surpass 100 million views in less than one day.
  • BTS has been often labeled as “easily the biggest and most successful name in K-pop in the world” that can “do things no other name in their genre can.” Time magazine has gone as far as calling them the “Princes of Pop.”