Set in Europe in 1815 during the Napoleonic wars this period drama/thriller from director Bill Thomas and writers Bill Thomas/Ian Thomas follows the story of British soldier John Cross who is sent by his superiors to investigate a strange local disease. The film is being released on DVD in the UK exclusively by 101 Films. This follows on from other genre period films such as Dead Snow.
The film stars Roland Bearne, Jp Berry, Alex Bevan and Matthew Neil.
This is one of most dialogue heavy zombie flicks I have seen and the action and effect sequences are brief at best. Obviously, the film-makers here are employing an indie low budget film-making trick but I’m not sure this really pays off given the genre the film is aiming for. The result is more successful as a period drama than a zombie genre film.
The grim wartime look and feel to this film is perhaps a bit monotonous at times but at least it gives the piece it’s own visual style. One thing I didn’t appreciate was the shaky hand-held shots during the battle sequences; a not so subtle attempt to recreate the chaos of war. The performances here were reasonable; especially from the leads but they had a lot of work to do to make up for the lack of action
Extras
There is a great ‘Making Of’ featurette included which covers many aspects of the production and features many of the cast and crew.
The disc also features a director’s commentary.
3/5
