Death Trench (2017)
Sep. 10th, 2023 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosanicusI had this post half-written and then I accidentally closed Firefox and lost the post. It's fine. I'm not mad.
Anyway, this is a review of a horror film set during World War 1! I've previously watched one other horror film set in World War 1, the genuinely quite good Deathwatch (2002) so I was cautiously optimistic about this film despite the dreadful title and I must say: I was right to be!
I'm not suggesting it's great cinema - the characters are thin, the production design is occasionally shaky - but it's got something compelling at the core of it.
My partner and I have been on a quest for the past few years to watch as many films as we can within a very specific subgenre, which is 'people are stuck underground (possibly with something paranormal). The ur example of this subgenre is The Descent, which we made the mistake of watching first and so always compare every other film to it.
The basic premise of the film: In the final weeks of the war (there is an onscreen title card in Calibri font which specifies 'November 2nd') a British major embarks on a dangerous mission to investigate a German bunker. He assembles a team of various nationalities, the nominal protagonist being a Canadian sapper who's on leave after being buried alive for twelve days and gets dragged back by the MPs.
It's a basic premise and in fact we've watched three or four films along similar lines, most of them awful, but this one rises above through sheer effort. The direction and cinematography are clearly ripping off The Descent, but considering how good The Descent is that's all to the good.
When they get into the bunker they find one (1) alive German soldier who screams at them not to open the door which has been nailed shut with planks over it and then he begs them to shoot him. But the British officer (this is very much a lions led by donkeys sort of film) insists on pressing on. And then... the zombies arrive.
Interestingly, the summary of this film directly describes the sapper character as 'shell-shocked'. I was therefore expecting the standard reductive cinematic language of shellshock from a variety of mid-tier WW1 films, but instead it's a much subtler approach. He's clearly struggling but the film shows rather than tells. It's a weirdly subtle bit of character work from a film which also includes multiple scenes of tiny worms crawling out of people's eyes.
There are a few German characters. One of them is the token evil German scientist, while the other is a more interesting man in the (genuinely) EvS mold of the old-fashioned Prussian officer. At one point he's accused of having only ever wanted to ride horses! He's sent to clear the bunker of the zombies before the Allies can find one and while the evil German scientist is drinking vintage wine (don't really know why there's vintage wine) he goes off to negotiate with his prisoners to work together. It's fun! And then when he persuades the sapper to help him they have a mildly flirtatious exchange - "You're very tall for a tunneler." "That's what my mother said." They end up having a genuinely nice cross-lines friendship form and then plan an escape together. I hope they have a summer wedding.
The evil scientist also has a proper fascist monologue which is pretty much mandatory for any film made by people who sort of understand European history after 1925 and like an easy villain. Check back at some point for my annual Complaining About The Wonder Woman Film rant. This is "balanced" by the other German officer (he's called Mueller) who has a monologue about how awful the Somme was.
I was impressed however by the commitment to small historical details. The doctor has a military haircut, they use accurate tools when said doctor has to do an autopsy on a zombie - and god it's fucking grim. There's also a little bit about the Americans doing cocaine to stay awake, which was a good early laugh in a grim movie.
As always though one must consider that WW1 was already bad enough without having to add zombies to it. In the end the setting is mostly set dressing - it could've been set in WW2 (and I suspect the original script was before they realised Overlord (2018) was being made) or indeed in space, or a deep sea base. The setting enhances my enjoyment of the story but it doesn't really intersect with it in a meaningful way. I was sort of waiting for the British major to start salivating over the possible applications of the worm zombies for British interests, which would have at least done something towards mitigating the impact of the Transparently Evil German on my suspension of disbelief.
Overall I'd recommend this if you're a fan of somewhat gory horror films, particularly zombie ones. If you enjoyed Overlord I think this is very much in the same line, although slightly more gory and with more swearing and a lower budget.
It was very much focused on the war beneath the lines, which I do think is less explored in fiction. However, the entire time they were discussing the plan to invade the base I was thinking 'where are the aerial photographs?' because you'd think there would be plenty for a German bunker which was now only a mile or so behind the lines. Biggles could do it in an afternoon! Not a plane in sight, 0/10 for aviation.
Anyway, this is a review of a horror film set during World War 1! I've previously watched one other horror film set in World War 1, the genuinely quite good Deathwatch (2002) so I was cautiously optimistic about this film despite the dreadful title and I must say: I was right to be!
I'm not suggesting it's great cinema - the characters are thin, the production design is occasionally shaky - but it's got something compelling at the core of it.
My partner and I have been on a quest for the past few years to watch as many films as we can within a very specific subgenre, which is 'people are stuck underground (possibly with something paranormal). The ur example of this subgenre is The Descent, which we made the mistake of watching first and so always compare every other film to it.
The basic premise of the film: In the final weeks of the war (there is an onscreen title card in Calibri font which specifies 'November 2nd') a British major embarks on a dangerous mission to investigate a German bunker. He assembles a team of various nationalities, the nominal protagonist being a Canadian sapper who's on leave after being buried alive for twelve days and gets dragged back by the MPs.
It's a basic premise and in fact we've watched three or four films along similar lines, most of them awful, but this one rises above through sheer effort. The direction and cinematography are clearly ripping off The Descent, but considering how good The Descent is that's all to the good.
When they get into the bunker they find one (1) alive German soldier who screams at them not to open the door which has been nailed shut with planks over it and then he begs them to shoot him. But the British officer (this is very much a lions led by donkeys sort of film) insists on pressing on. And then... the zombies arrive.
Interestingly, the summary of this film directly describes the sapper character as 'shell-shocked'. I was therefore expecting the standard reductive cinematic language of shellshock from a variety of mid-tier WW1 films, but instead it's a much subtler approach. He's clearly struggling but the film shows rather than tells. It's a weirdly subtle bit of character work from a film which also includes multiple scenes of tiny worms crawling out of people's eyes.
There are a few German characters. One of them is the token evil German scientist, while the other is a more interesting man in the (genuinely) EvS mold of the old-fashioned Prussian officer. At one point he's accused of having only ever wanted to ride horses! He's sent to clear the bunker of the zombies before the Allies can find one and while the evil German scientist is drinking vintage wine (don't really know why there's vintage wine) he goes off to negotiate with his prisoners to work together. It's fun! And then when he persuades the sapper to help him they have a mildly flirtatious exchange - "You're very tall for a tunneler." "That's what my mother said." They end up having a genuinely nice cross-lines friendship form and then plan an escape together. I hope they have a summer wedding.
The evil scientist also has a proper fascist monologue which is pretty much mandatory for any film made by people who sort of understand European history after 1925 and like an easy villain. Check back at some point for my annual Complaining About The Wonder Woman Film rant. This is "balanced" by the other German officer (he's called Mueller) who has a monologue about how awful the Somme was.
I was impressed however by the commitment to small historical details. The doctor has a military haircut, they use accurate tools when said doctor has to do an autopsy on a zombie - and god it's fucking grim. There's also a little bit about the Americans doing cocaine to stay awake, which was a good early laugh in a grim movie.
As always though one must consider that WW1 was already bad enough without having to add zombies to it. In the end the setting is mostly set dressing - it could've been set in WW2 (and I suspect the original script was before they realised Overlord (2018) was being made) or indeed in space, or a deep sea base. The setting enhances my enjoyment of the story but it doesn't really intersect with it in a meaningful way. I was sort of waiting for the British major to start salivating over the possible applications of the worm zombies for British interests, which would have at least done something towards mitigating the impact of the Transparently Evil German on my suspension of disbelief.
Overall I'd recommend this if you're a fan of somewhat gory horror films, particularly zombie ones. If you enjoyed Overlord I think this is very much in the same line, although slightly more gory and with more swearing and a lower budget.
It was very much focused on the war beneath the lines, which I do think is less explored in fiction. However, the entire time they were discussing the plan to invade the base I was thinking 'where are the aerial photographs?' because you'd think there would be plenty for a German bunker which was now only a mile or so behind the lines. Biggles could do it in an afternoon! Not a plane in sight, 0/10 for aviation.
