Overlord (2018)

 

If you need a surprisingly entertaining action film set during the last days of World War II that is fun and inserts some pretty cool horror and practical effects your way, then look no further than 'Overlord'. The cast of mostly unknown actors also makes it a bit more tense, as you don't really know who will make it to the end. 

But of course, you desire some more. I'll gladly oblige.

'Overlord' is of course also the name of the operation by which the Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in the final push to defeat the Nazi military operations in Europe. The day before the assault, a team of troopers parachutes down behind enemy lines to take down a radio tower that is jamming the signals for the airsupport. Pretty vital, one might say. However, things go to hell almost right away as only a handful of soldiers actually make it. They come across a young woman who takes them to her village of Cielblanc, where the radiotower is situated in an old church/fortress. But things aren't what they seem as the Germans apparently take villagers into the facility and they never return. Or in the case of the girl's aunt: return with an affliction that isn't mentioned, but doesn't bode well. 

It transpires the Nazis are conducting experiments (of course!) on both the living and the dead in order to create supersoldiers... But the tower still needs to go and things escalate quickly. 

In a tight 92 minutes, you get all the trappings of a fun adventure: a clear 'hero' of sorts, quirky sidecharacters, an evil villain, action, suspense and a hefty dose of gore and horror. Sure, the opening sequence on the plan does look too CG for its own good most of the time, but quite a lot of the horrific stuff is actually done in camera with makeup and prothetics and it looks nicely fleshy, gooey and icky. And that always gets bonus points for effort. It's not a full blown zombiefilm, but it has some of the staples and the environment of the lower levels of the castle/church/whatever the heck that building is work well for setting the mood. 

The acting is also fine, albeit nothing special. The wisecracking Italo-American sniper did get on my nerves, as he is all the worst parts of a character you've seen a million times before but mostly everyone is doing just fine and seeing as this is a film about action and gore and less about deep, characterdriven arcs, this is just fine.

Fun film. Check it out if you can.