Overlord

If Overlord was a typical war film, I would have probably given it a boo rating, but it was a standard slasher film for people who can appreciate Wolfenstein or Resident Evil, so I enjoyed the mayhem and suppressed my criticism of the historical inaccuracies. It would have been pointless in this case anyway. If you don't mind a few hectoliters of spilled blood, the occasional deeper insight into the human anatomy, and a little French baseball fan, just relax, switch off your brain (except for the basic functions, that is) and there's a pretty good chance you'll be entertained. (08/03/2019)

Overlord is technically a perfect piece of crap chock-full of little details to satisfy geeky taste buds. How could such a farce have the most luxuriously intense final fight, milking its potential to the last drop, which will satisfy even the most hard-core fan of the genre? Overlord recalls everything from Sky Captain to Dead Snow to Planet Terror. It’s like a more expensive, more refined, almost top-tier grindhouse flick, but (unfortunately) unlike typical representatives of this sub-genre, it takes itself seriously, plays at big heroes and maintains political correctness. This creates a conflicting mix of impressions and could deserve a rating of anywhere from one to five stars, depending on what you expect from this movie and your current mood. [Sitges FF] (13/10/2018)

The ultimate guilty pleasure and the best war horror movie ever. Hereditary is the most essential horror film of the year, Ghostland the most intense, A Quiet Place the most original and Overlord is the most emotional and brutal. Overlord serves up a whirlwind of eye-candy attractions from the 5th minute that don’t let up and leave you gasping for breath until the closing credits. A technically perfect polished action spree with breathtaking cinematography, an atmosphere driven by a nostalgic “Wolfenstein”, a likeable bunch of soldiers whose fate you care about and spectacular action backed by juicy gore. The make-up artists are incredibly skilled and serve up some very nice shots. The film manages to build solid tension on several occasions, there is no shortage of shocking jump scares and killing Nazis has never been more effective and entertaining in a film than here. There are fewer zombies, but they are all the more unstoppable bastards. Story-wise, the film doesn't wow, but anyone expecting Oscar nominations from a WWII horror film is out of their mind. Here clearly form wins over content, which not everyone will buy, but those who agree to the rules of the film will literally gush with excitement and thrill. It's a pity that Overlord probably won't make it to local cinemas, it will lose its charm at home on TV. The last time I left the cinema this excited was Deadpool 2 this year. (12/11/2018)

I thought the film would use the cast of unfamiliar acting faces to surprise you with who would be the hero, who would die, and who would survive (if anyone), but alasthe roles were clear after only a few minutes. What followed was nearly three-quarters of an hour of more or less boring or rather ordinary waiting to find out why I was actually watching Overlord in the first place, and then, yes, a fairly entertaining parade of practical gore effects, but one that was more intimate than I would have liked. Never mind that I didn't see Overlord in the cinema, the TV screen is just right. (22/06/2019)

Audiovisually it’s great, but in terms of script and direction, it’s a shabby grindhouse shoot ‘em up with a story that would work better as a video game – two thirds of relatively realistic war action and cheap psychology, followed by a final level tuned to action-horror where you have to kill the enemies with something a bit thicker than a stick. In a film, this approach is twice a shame: on the one hand, it can’t fulfil the expectations of a brisk and gripping carnage, and on the other, it excels in the impression of a serious war drama that takes the plot with the undead very seriously, but finishes it with an avalanche of action clichés and a wisecracking self-sacrificing hero. It’s not bad, because within the set standards, the script unfolds in a logical and well thought-out way, but it’s such a shame that the premise remains unfulfilled because they chose motives that are the total opposite (we follow a war mission into which the zombies get somewhat by mistake, and it doesn’t feel like the cruel, realistic horror they probably intended), and it’s too soft, too (it should have been much stronger visually). The excellent opening twenty minutes and the interesting alternative to the war genre with lots of minor ideas are worth the attention, but don’t expect a great B-movie with an intentionally silly bloodfest. For many people that might be good, but not for me. (04/02/2019)