Review: The Horde

I usually don’t review movies but after seeing this film, I just need to say some things about this movie. First thing I need to say is…Now that’s what I’m talking about! I was shocked and a little appalled by how good this movie was, I really did not expect a movie of this calibre by judging it from the trailers. It seems like most trailers for action movies nowadays show all the big climatic scenes all in the trailer, in the quick 4 minute reel; Just to draw in the crowds only to disappoint them when they finally jostle their way into the theatre through the ‘horde’ of anxious viewers. But that’s Hollywood for you. It’s like they put more effort into making the trailer exciting then effort they put into the film itself. Welcome to L.A, where movieland has become as clouded and flashy as online dating. Everything looks fine and dandy on their profile information, till you find yourself in an awkward dinner date with a hermaphroditic ex-con.

Moviegoers suffer a similar fate once they find themselves busting a lung laughing at a trailer for a forthcoming comedy, only to be awkwardly trapped in a movie theatre watching the ungainly antics of a Hypoglycaemic Mall Cop.

Luckily, The Horde was filmed in France so the movie was not diluted by Hollywood’s touch of death. The trailer only showed little snippets of some great actions scenes, (just like a trailer should!)leaving lots of pleasant surprises for zombie aficionados. This movie really did surprise me, considering France doesn’t exactly have a great reputation for tantalizing horror flicks.

This movie was action packed, high octane and a real bloodbath that will leave any gore hound satiated. The action scenes were well orchestrated, and they didn’t go overboard with it, which would ultimately break the gritty, realistic atmosphere that this movie has. The Characters were real! The thugs in this movie were real scum bags and even the antagonists were rough around the edges. At first, I was prepared to hate these characters and I thought there would be a lack of characterization, but again, I was wrong. This movie had great, fun, and real world characters, unlike many of the cheery, almost saint-like, ‘we can do anything if we believe it in our hearts’ cardboard cutouts from Hollywood.

I don’t know who worked with the special effects for this film, but they deserve some high accolades for helping to make this no-holds barred horror as good as it is. The zombies were completely psychotic and intense. The zombies were runners, kinda like the infected in 28 Days Later if they were given an adrenaline shot and some steroids.

There were a few clichés, like the racist old war vet, a dramatic dialogue where two arch enemies argue about cooperation (and often, the two actors try the show up the other, creating for an awkward scene of overacting) and of course, where would we all be without the climatic Last Stand. But in the case of The Horde, it was so well done that the clichés were polished up and given an original feel. The Last stand scene was perhaps the greatest I’ve seen, even better than the Dawn of the Dead (2004) last stand scene with the propane tank. I have heard a few comparisons between Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead and The Horde. Personally, I enjoyed The Horde much more then Dawn of the Dead. They managed to pull off an excellent story and because it was filmed in France, they were most likely dealing with a smaller budget than its Hollywood counterpart. This is very impressive in itself!

The greatest aspect of this film was the gritty, realistic atmosphere of this film. The ending just screams ‘realistic’. This movie doesn’t hold back and it will surprise you, without being filled with weak ‘shock and awe’ techniques. This movie is also very eerie and there are some scenes that will leave you a little chilled to the bones. The director should be standing on a car right now, trying to fend off the masses of appeased zombie fanatics for a job well done.

If you haven’t watched The Horde, than you are missing out on some grade A, grotesque zombie goodness. Go check it out and support a great foreign film!

Available at Amazon