When out in public, we tend to notice those Hollywood blockbusters plastered across the side of the local buses. For the most part, I don't pay attention to whatever has entered the mainstream stratosphere, especially in horror; "Hollywood horror" is a compilation of tired tropes, bad acting and abhorrent dialogue.
I remember Overlord (2018) being advertised. I chalked it up to being yet another terrible film that would no doubt make a decent penny at the box office and be forgotten instantaneously. But, as it turns out, this film is not just a basic horror: it's fun, it's gory and I'd say arguably pretty unique.
The film follows Boyce (Jovan Adepo), an American soldier tasked to destroy a watch tower behind enemy lines during WW2. He's part of an ensemble, eventually joined by Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier), a local woman who is trying to protect her younger brother from Nazis. The set-up is pretty simplistic but there are some absolutely haunting visuals, from dead soldiers hanging from the trees to the experiment subjects we see later in the film.
The characters in this film are...okay. Most of them are loose stereotypes that a murdered in violent fashion without being fleshed out, demonstrating a complete lack of indispensability that we often see in both horror and war films. Boyce is a refreshing addition: a POC protagonist who is not only morally sound but manages to live throughout the narrative, subtle in its revision of harmful tropes (such as the black person dying first).
One of the standout characters in this has to be Wafner (Pilou Asbæk) a.k.a Danish Michael Shannon. For a fictional Nazi character, he's impressively determinate and perverse: sure, he's no Hans Lander, but he's certainly entertaining in a 'you just love to hate the guy' kind of way. German Greyjoy is charismatic, respectful yet absolutely screams 'Nazi scum', presented in a way that's almost pantomime-like.
The visual effects of Overlord are delightfully gross. If you've seen any marketing for it, then you'll know there is a scene wherein Wafner's character literally has half his face smashed off, achieved by a combination of prosthetics, CGI and good ol' fashioned sfx makeup. In fact, most of the gore and body horror in this film is well-done: in some respects, it leaned heavily into Cronenberg territory, which I certainly enjoyed.
My takeaway from this film is that, at times, it feels like it wants to be taken seriously yet for the most part, it's supposed to be fun. Is it the best horror film of 2018? No, but I don't think that matters, to be honest. It's impressive for what it is and certainly got dunked too hard on by fans upon release.
Overall rating: 7/10
- K
