Overlord

I don't really understand J.J. Abrams and the Bad Robot people who make these horror films. I'm a fan of them, I don't think there has been a Cloverfield film that I haven't at least initially enjoyed so I clearly enjoy their style and film making. I guess I don't totally understand why they're so wishy washy on making a horror/sci fi anthology series. Yes, Overlord is not apart of the Cloverfield films, but there were at least rumors that it was, and while I like the idea that we're just going to get horror films from this company and not have the extra baggage of trying to tie it in with other films (especially if they don't have a clever plan to do so), but if you're making a horror anthology film kind of akin to Black Mirror, it shouldn't be hard to connect these films, right? All you need to do is call the lab in this film Cloverfield labs or have the team dropping in be the Cloverfields or something stupid like that. I'm conflicted, on one hand, I really enjoy this film and am glad it's not attached to Cloverfield, on the other hand I want that kind of creative idea to happen so if they had loosely connected it with this film it would have been an interesting chapter in that weird franchise.

But that's the last I'm tying this to Cloverfield because this movie deserves to be talked about on its own merit.

Overlord takes place the day, practically hours before D-Day. A group of airborne infantry men are parachuted behind enemy lines to knock out an antenna and provide support for the D-Day invasion.

This small group of those Soldier find themselves in a small village in France that is occupied by the Nazi Army (headed up by the guy who played Uron Greyjoy in case you're a Game of Thrones fan, Pilou Asbaek). As they're trying to find the antenna and blow it up, they stumble across some shady doings by the Nazis and find a secret underground lab where the Nazis are creating essentially zombies. I say essentially zombies because while they are zombie like, there are two elements you usually find in a zombie flick that you need to be prepared there is none of in this film. They're not brain hungry, and there is no hoard. There is for sure zombies in this film, but very few.

The reality is that this movie is a pretty small, lower budget horror action film that has some good character dialogue, and in my opinion some pretty cool ideas both in terms of the war, action, and horror genres.

As you may know, I don't watch a lot of horror films but with the exception of a couple of jump scares, this movie falls more into the category of Cloverfield where the focus is more on the action and the story.

The team has some stereotypes like the straight up good guy (played by Jovan Adepo, though I have a sneaking suspicion that they wanted John Boyegea for the role. Doesn't take away that Adepo does a good job), the leader (played by Wyatt Russell from that one horror video game Black Mirror episode), the smart ass (played by John Magaro, that guy from Umbrella Academy), and a girl (played by Mathilde Olliver).

Like I said, the movie is kind of smaller and more claustrophobic. There are a few set pieces but they are really good and I thought the characters interacted and performed really well in the really unique circumstances. It's a pretty violent film and that violence almost makes the movie feel like an exploitation or grind house film that makes the entire film centered on the blood and gore.

This movie level sets those moments with some interesting sci fi ideas, some somewhat interesting dialogue, and just an overall fun streamlined story.

Good guys have an objective, they need to destroy the tower from the Nazis... plus zombies.

For the most part I liked the use of zombies. Again, if you're expecting the hoard, you're going to be disappointed, but again, these are not necessarily zombies.

While the concepts they use are by no means new, I think its an interesting setting and instead of regulating this to a B-film you see in the bowls of Netflix, this movie takes the concept of Nazi Zombies a little more seriously and I think it really works.

This was a pretty small movie with not a very big release and I'm actually kind of bummed. I don't think a lot of people checked it out and I'm starting to realize there were a couple of good movies that came out in 2018 that were like that. This one, Annihilation, and the next film that I'm going to be reviewing, Bad Times at the El Royale.

I really enjoy finding movies like this both in the theaters and after the fact. And that kind of goes into the conflicted thoughts I have on this film that I was talking about at the start.

What I enjoyed most about this film was the visuals and the use of science fiction ideas in a really smaller setting. I'm not saying I need this in a Cloverfield franchise, but I do think there is a market for these kind of films and that's the part of me that's bummed I didn't see this movie in theaters. I like supporting films that I wouldn't mind seeing more of in one way or another and I don't think that's going to happen with this film. It was somewhat financially successful but I'd be surprised if there's any follow up to a story like this.

Is it a perfect movie? No. The story, while good, is nothing ground breaking. It has a lot more B-movie elements that make it feel more like a one-off and honestly, I'm okay with that.

But for what it is, I liked it and I could see myself checking it out again if I want some Nazi zombie action that makes me think a little.

But have you seen Overlord? Do you think it should have been a part of the Cloverfield franchise? What other small horror films should I be checking out similar to this one? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!