ReviewThe French have recently been revisiting their horror traditions with a number of well received dark genre releases raising interest in the Gaelic industry Down Under. Guess it was only a matter of time before someone from France would attempt a zombie movie, given the current interest in the undead. Next of course there will be a vampire movie, and knowing French cinema that wont involve sparkling vampires of any sort. The Horde sort of didn't overly impact in this Country, but I would imagine with more reviews being published on the movie interest will be tweaked.Detective Mathias Rivoallan has been murdered and his body dumped by a gang lead by the Nigerian Markudi. His colleagues Jimenez, Aurore, Ouessem, and Tony decide to seek revenge for the death of their friend with the execution of Markudi and his brother Bola high on the agenda. They find out Markudi's gang are holed up in a condemned tenement building on the outskirts of the City and launch a raid as night falls. Things go drastically wrong when a watchmen disrupts the raid and the police squad are subdued and tortured by the Gang. Disrupting this little family gathering is the arrival of a zombie horde intent on devouring anyone living they can find. With options running out for them former enemies join forces, enlist the aid of René, a Vietnam vet, and try to get out of Dodge. Helping out is a personal arsenal, hindering is the zombies resurrecting in the apartment building. First up The Horde, as one would imagine, is a French language movie with English subtitles. Clearly Hollywood will remake the movie for their brain dead mid western audiences who are unable to read apparently. Possibly also affecting a decision to view the movie is the insanely awesome levels of gore going down that at stages almost rivals Peter Jackson's Braindead (1992). Then of course there are those who might not be hip with the whole crime thriller meets kung fu action on the corner of undead street. If you can get past these little idiosyncratic ideas then dial on in for insanely good time. Directors Dahan and Rocher bring a whole almost surreal quality to their movie that rivals the work of Tim Burton. The washed out colours in use in The Horde depict a nightmare world where anything could, and most possibly will, happen. There's almost a video game feel to things that surprisingly reminded me of “Doom 3”. Thrown onto this landscape are down to earth characters, you will believe each and every one with the possible exception of René, and of course the zombies themselves who match the best ever thrown onto the screen. Unfortunately we are talking fast moving zombies here rather than Romero style shamblers. Like so much of French film The Horde is first and foremost striving to obtain an art foothold rather than being simply another movie that can be forgotten about when the end credits start rolling. Is the movie a masterpiece, up to the individual reader to make a call, I'm voting a big yes. The Horde is the best zombie movie I've seen since 28 Days Later. Wonder if the Directors would like to work on that vampire movie? Like all good horror movies The Horde utilises the framework of the genre it's working in but takes things beyond the normal shot them in the head province of most zombie flicks. There are conflicts within the Gang and differing opinions of what they are doing amongst the Detectives. These surface from time to time with at least one character meeting his demise due to a personal conflict. The layers leveraged onto the movie will be appreciated by cinema buffs but wont interfere with the enjoyment of the movie by those dialling in for the zombie influenced gore. While it might sound like The Horde is a serious romp through the alleys of blood splatter there is a fair amount of tongue in cheek involved. We're not talking laugh out loud moments but you will be smiling at some of the fight scenes and the share levels of mayhem achieved are so beyond the scope of most gore movies that you are swept along in something approaching admiration for the share risk taking the Directors are involved with here. I guess I should talk a bit about the gore for those who might not be comfortable with this aspect of some modern dark genre flicks. While there can be no argument that there's plenty of blood and mayhem going down and of course violence is high on the agenda Directors Dahan and Rocher avoid guts flying at the screen in avalanche quantities. Gut munching is definitely not on the agenda so the squeamish could perhaps view with only a little application of fingers over eyes. The Horde sort of appeared on my radar a year or so ago but hit stores with little to no fanfare during the week. Naturally since it was a zombie movie I wanted to dial in big time to see how the French would attack the concept. Thankfully an entertaining romp through the undead landscape ensued and I was entertained from beginning to end as the Directors delivered on an enterprising and fairly unique take on their subject matter. While the movie is fairly well up on the surreal scale of things, actually thinking about it Zack Snyder's 300 (2006) comes to mind, it is also steeped in the real and everyday. An over the top journey through a nightmare world that will have you chomping at the bit to be part of the viewing horde.
Dear god in heaven they have dubbed the movie for the North American market!
ScaryMinds Rates this movie as ... French flair explores the zombie surreal.
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