Tuesday, December 28, 2010

ZOMBIE RELATED: The Horde REVIEW

TITLE: The Horde (La Horde)
YEAR: 2009
DIRECTOR: Yannick Dahan, Benjamin Rocher
RATING: NR

The Horde is another well made zombie entry from France, this time mixing a crime face-off, with impending zombie uprising, to mostly good affect.



The first thing you notice about The Horde, co-directed by Yannick Dahan (2007's Frontiers), is the gorgeous cinematography, and it's sense of scene and place. The film is firmly grounded in a French slum high rise, and for all intents and purposes, is a crime thriller for the first act of the movie. However, as the French policeman out for blood off the clock face off with the criminal syndicate holding the high rise, hell is unleashed in the surrounding city.

While the zombies are introduced and carnage gets underway in the second act, it really moves pretty slow as we setup the dynamics of our survivors, and the third act, where they're forced into final confrontation with the zombie hordes invading below. At that point The Horde really takes off and almost shines. It's just too bad that aside from looking great, and being fairly engaging, that the overall film doesn't hook you better.

TYPE OF ZOMBIE, OR ACTUAL ZOMBIES?: Fast zombies, but pretty traditional otherwise, if not a bit more on steroids than just fast. These zombies are seriously amped.

GORE: Not too strong, but well done.

EFFECTS: Not too heavy on effects, but well done.

STRAIGHT REVIEW: MILDLY RECOMMENDED

ZOMBIE FAN REVIEW: RECOMMENDED
The Horde is a solid zombie film, with a decent budget, that tries to offer it's own unique story, set during the zombie apocalypse, that features a fairly epic last stand for the remaining cast.

It's worth a watch, if not just for the thrilling finish.

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