BLOOD WORK: SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: OVERLORD (2018)

The horror of war is real and terrible and something I'd never wish for anyone to experience. But some battles are worth fighting for and those who face such horrors and evils of the world are the real heroes. Combine the horrors of war with the horrors of occultism and supernatural forces and what you have is fertile grounds for a gripping horror story. War Horror movies are few and far between. High quality War Horror films are even fewer. One of my all-time favorites is the 1999 film RAVENOUS set against the backdrop of the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. Then there's the Michael Mann directed epic THE KEEP (a blu ray release of The Keep is desperately needed!). Both of these films are criminally underrated.

And now we have Julius Avery's OVERLORD. With stellar reviews and a wicked looking red band trailer that was released months ago, it seemed as if this horror film was poised to be a smashing success! And it is in terms of film quality, not so much financially however, which is a shame. Zombie Nazi movies are a relatively small subgenre of horror. Most of them are low budget of varying quality. The DEAD SNOW films are amazing zombie Nazi movies and BLOOD CREEK and SHOCK WAVES are pretty good too.

Overlord may be one of the best.

THE PLOT

In 1944 a small company of American soldiers parachute into German occupied France with the mission to destroy a key Nazi command post. The American troops are utterly decimated, only five soldiers surviving to complete the mission. When the soldiers arrive in the small French village they discover a Nazi fortress far more sinister than a mere command post. The medieval church at the heart of the village serves as Nazi occult science base, the locals being experimented on for the Nazi scientists' bizarre tests. The mission for these five hopelessly outnumbered soldiers grows far more dire as the dead begin to rise.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

From the red band trailers everything seemed to indicate that Overlord was going to be one intensely graphic film. There were shades of the video game series WOLFENSTEIN (particularly Wolfenstein 3D from 1992 which introduced undead mutated Nazi soldiers to the series) all over the trailer. By all intents Overlord appeared to be more than the average horror film. And it delivered on the promise set in those trailers. What results is a film that's one half INGLORIOUS BASTARDS and one half RE-ANIMATOR. It is a horror film unlike most being made today by major studios.

And it is wonderful.

This film feels akin to the wild horror concepts of the 1980's and in that niche the film flourishes. What made the 1980's horror films so special were how crazy and far afield the concepts were and the lengths of gore and onscreen insanity on display. If Overlord had been made in the 1980's it's not hard to imagine John Carpenter or Tobe Hooper's name attached to it. It also feels like a welcomed call back to the films a decade ago under the banner of a Rodriguez/Tarantino GRINDHOUSE flick. To me these catalogs of film are among my favorites.

Notably Overlord is following in the footsteps of these films in another way, specifically in terms of box office receipts. The film is sadly tanking at the box office leaving it destined for "cult classic" status.

The film begins with an intense World War II sequence the likes of which would fit seamlessly alongside Saving Private Ryan. The level of reality and intensity achieved so early on in the film sets an impressive tone going forward. We're introduced to a small yet distinctive group of personalities in our protaginists (some feeling a bit cliched or "tried and true" if you like). It's these unlikely heroes that lead us into the horrors of Nazi experimentation and beyond into the world of the supernatural and the resurrection of the dead.

The level of gore displayed here goes further than most horror movies have done in recent years with a few exceptions here and there. The character Boyce (played by Jovan Adepo) takes us on a tour of the Nazi lair where we are treated to a bevy of nightmarish imagery (exactly what you'd expect from a secret occult Nazi science lab) including a detached head complete with spinal column still talking. The first reanimation sequence we are shown is one of the best scenes in the film, reminiscent of THE THING (1982). Then the bloody carnage boils to a head at the climax when Wyatt Russell (Kurt Russell's son) battles the Nazi commander Wafner in a brutal confrontation spilling blood and guts. In many ways you could say that Overlord is Wyatt Russell's "The Thing."

I could find nothing I really disliked about the film nor any major faults with it save for wanting more. This film (which came at a rather large budget for a horror film) attempts to walk the line of just how much graphic content and intensity is palatable before it repels audiences. The filmmakers took the content as far as they thought they could while still hoping for a box office success. With the movie bombing (no pun intended) I now wish the filmmakers would've taken another step further with the graphic content. More blood. More guts. And more monsters.

As the film sits right now, it is a solid film from start to finish. But what would've pushed the film beyond into the halls of legend would've been a gory display the likes of Re-Animator (1985) or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part II (1986). There's a scene at the end where Boyce is sprinting through the fortress as it's exploding. He dashes by strange cells, tanks, body bags, and more (supposedly housing more Nazi experiments. Seeing those chambers open with bizarre creatures spilling out as Boyce runs by would've been the perfect icing on the cake. But that's not what happens. Monstrous creatures are alluded to earlier in the film when the soldiers come across a strange jackal like corpse, so when no monsters actually show by the end it feels a little disappointing.

Maybe an unrated cut of the film exists containing the extra bits that would make this a horror film to be hailed for all time. If such a cut does exist I hope it will be released on home video. But even still, this was one awesome horror movie and a stand out of 2018.

Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10

Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10