The Unhinged Awesome of Overlord

Horror and action fans, have I got a movie for you!

 

When I first heard there was a J.J. Abrams-produced World War II horror hybrid with a Tomatometer score of 80%, my driveway echoed with the sound of burning rubber! Make no mistake: Overlord is one of the best action gore-fests I’ve seen in ages, and screams to be seen in the theater. Remember the name of director Julius Avery, because this cat is going places. Screenwriters Billy Ray (Captain Phillips) and Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) both roll up their sleeves and wreak all manner of havoc in what’s not just a great, nerve-annihilating nightmare assault on your senses, but also a phenomenal addition to the World War II genre. Saving Private Frankenstein. 

 

I thought the opening minutes of First Man were intense! But Avery gives that sequence one helluva run for its money, as a squad of GIs paratroopers about to jump into Nazi-occupied France gets the snot blown out of their plane by an artillery barrage. No question, it’s one of the most unforgettably gripping sequences in any film this year, which like most of this movie, seems to have been largely executed with practical effects.

The survivors of the air drop include the fantastic Jovan Adepo, the audience surrogate who’s in nearly every scene of the film, and he just kills it. Then there’s this hard-edged Corporal leading the mission who I’d never seen before. My brain’s going, “This guy’s Snake Plissken!” The voice! The sneer! Then I see it’s Wyatt Russell (son of Kurt), who is just sensational here as the nails-hard explosives guy who’s seen it all and then some. I haven’t seen Lodge 49, but I just may have to, as Russell’s fantastic.

Their mission? Take out at heavily fortified Nazi transmission tower within the ruins of an old French church – and lemme tell ya, there is just every kind of awful going on behind those ancient stones, and our guys have to go in there. Overlord simply never lets up. The tension is incredibly well sustained, and there’s no sardonic self-aware winking at the audience – the actors take it deadly serious, and sell the hell out of the situation. Massive kudos to DPs Laurie Rose and Fabian Wagner, who along with Production Designer Jon Henson create a beautifully realistic and rich environment that’s utterly convincing and seeping with detail. The sound team also does amazing work here. Every Nazi bootstep echoes with malice – sound and score beautifully coexisting to deliciously mess with the audience – and those Nazis!  Pilou Asbæk (Games of Thrones’ Euron Greyjoy) is just oozing with dreadfulness as the SS officer running the show. This cast – including the great Bokeem Woodbine – is simply phenomenal. When the picture ended, I was ready to go right back and see it again. Director Avery channels Hellboy, Michael Mann’s The Keep – STILL not on blu-ray! Come on!– and Where Eagles Dare, to deliver a ridiculously satisfying thrillride that never lets up. If you’re a genre movie lover, you need to seek this sucker out immediately, before the holiday release deluge whisks it out of theaters – though they’d better bring a mop.

 

And if you’re a young kid in Wisconsin, maybe heading for your junior prom? Then you should definitely see this movie –  because Overlord will teach you one of the most enduring and important lessons you will ever learn: that Nazis are the most messed up, evil and deserving of hellfire bastards to ever walk the Earth. Overlord is very, very highly recommended.