It's the Nazi zombie movie you never knew you needed. For what looked like a cheap and silly excuse for exploitative thrills, Overlord succeeds as thoroughly entertaining horror with more craftsmanship than anyone expected.
D-Day is tomorrow, and to better equip the Allies, a team of paratroopers are dispatched to destroy a German radio tower hidden in a crumbling church. Only five survive after their plane is shot down; one is killed immediately by a mine. The remaining four, alone in enemy territory, approach their goal cautiously. Chloe, a French woman, provides them some information as well as shelter in her home, but the Nazis controlling the oppressed village come and go at will. They have been using villagers -- including Chloe's aunt -- as subjects of mysterious experiments that leave them horribly deformed. In their quest to destroy the radio tower, the soldiers will learn the full depths of evil the Nazis plan to unleash.
It might be reprehensible for a film in 2018 to feel the need to create fictional horrors for Nazis. After all, we all know the stories of Josef Mengele and his ilk; Nazis were indeed experimenting on (read: torturing and mutilating) people, and that's more than horrific enough. But we might also ask ourselves if we really need to see depictions of that on the silver screen; wouldn't that be infinitely more exploitative? Horror has a long tradition (arguably its entire tradition) of taking real life evil and reconfiguring it or displacing it onto fictive elements.
And Overlord takes these and runs with them. It wears its influences proudly, enmeshing itself into horror and war genres as a sort of perfect bridge between the two. Its heart-stopping suspense -- yes, we always know what will happen, but not exactly how -- and breathtaking action might not be the most original of the year, but allow the film to feel not unlike a video game. Think Wolfenstein meets Outlast (I don't video game much, so these might be poor references). It helps, too, that two accomplished cinematographers worked on this picture: Fabian Wagner (films Victor Frankenstein, Justice League, and shows Sherlock and Game of Thrones) and Laurie Rose (frequent Ben Wheatley collaborator, Peaky Blinders and London Spy, and the upcoming Pet Sematary). Together, they craft a film claustrophobic, visceral, and yet also sweeping in its microcosmic look at a specific mission on the field of war. Each shot tells a story on its own, making each scene drawn out and layered in complexity uncommon in this kind of picture.
For all the derivative elements of the film, it also presents us with some refreshing features. Jovan Adepo (The Leftovers, mother!, Fences) leads the film as a powerful protagonist, and the film nearly ignores the fact that he's black. Granted, this story has already fictionalized Nazis so why not also ignore the realities of segregated American soldiers? But he's a great hero here, and it's nothing short of awesome seeing him enter a Nazi compound to kick some ass. The film also includes some surprising psychological turns, as when our lead pleads with his corporal to stop torturing a captured S.S. officer; one who, no less, had attempted to rape Chloe in the previous scene. Chloe is no victim, though, especially in the climax when she rescues her brother and helps the survivors fight their way out.
So if you can set aside your hang-ups with death metal vibes and wade into the bloody mess, you'll find a really entertaining, thought-provoking war thriller with lots of action and scares. What's not to like?
IMDb: Overlord
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