The Horde
Hordehouse
When you've seen a lot of zombie
movies, they all start to blend together. When you need your zombie
fix, you have to find movies with something special to separate them
from the pack. Sometimes it's a gimmick like zombie soldiers or
zombies in outer space. Sometimes it's absurd amounts of gore and
violence. And other times it's as simple as being in a different
language. Now that horror movies are cheaper to make and widely
distributed across the globe, there has been an influx in scary
international movies. For today's review, we go to France where I
have already reviewed one movie, Frontier(s). I really enjoyed that
one so I was looking forward to seeing some French zombies chow down.
The Horde (also known as La Horda) is a
2009 French zombie movie starring Eriq Ebouraney (Lamumba,
Transporter 3) as notorious drug dealer Adewale Markudi and
Jean-Pierre Martins (Empire Of The Wolves, Felina And The Master Of
Darkness) as policeman Ouesse. Following the murder of one of their
fellow police officers, Ouesse, Aurore (Claude Perron, Amelie,
Bernie), Jimenez, and Tony plan to avenge his death by killing his
murders. The gang is lead by Adewale Markudi, a well-armed Nigerian
who lives in a nearly abandoned high rise. As the group of policemen
are about to raid Markudi's apartment, the buildings superintendent
accidentally interrupts and Markudi gets the drop on them. The tie up
one cop and Markudi's brother Bola (hip-hop artist Doudou Masta)
shoots him multiple times. As they are preparing to execute Ouesse,
Aurore and Tony, the dead cop awakens as a flesh-eating zombie,
biting members from the gang. The gang shoot him multiple times, but
he does not fall until he is finally shot in the head. Chaos reigns
as an unexplained zombie plague spreads across France. The police and
gang are forced to work together in order to escape the high rise and
make it to safety. Along the way Aurore and Tony are separated from
the group. Tony is bitten and Aurore eventually shoots him. An uneasy
truce is formed between Ouesse and Markudi. The meet an old soldier
named Rene (Yves Pignot) who has been fighting off zombies with an
ax. Together, they raid the superintendent's apartment for weapons
and begin the long descent to the ground. Will they be able to
survive the zombies and each other?
"Who wants a piece of me? Oh, right. All of you. Crap."
The movie's main selling point is that
it's filled with loads and loads of blood and gore. Blood is on the
actors, on the floors, on the walls and everything else. If you like
your zombie movies violent, then you'll be pleased. The Horde tends
to rely more on computerized effects than traditional makeup and
blood. Certain scenes look very good while others look blatantly
fake. There is one very good scene where the audience can see the
destruction of the city from the reflection in glass doors. It is
subtle yet powerful. Later, they show direct shots of the city in
flames and it looks too much like a green screen. Of course, you may
not be too happy with how certain things in the movie play out. The
characters learn fairly quickly that shooting a zombie in the head
kills it. Despite this knowledge, they spend the rest of the movie
shooting zombies everywhere but the head. They also learn that bites
change people fairly quickly, but when one of Greco, one of the gang
members, is bitten in the leg, they don't just shoot him. There are
also multiple hand-to-hand fight scenes with zombies that, while
looking good, doesn't seem like a smart idea. They are intent on
surviving, but choose to ignore some very important facts.
For better or worse, the movie is very
bleak. It's not the bleakness that bothers me so much as the
predictability and pointlessness. You pretty much know how things are
going to end and it's fairly disappointing. While it makes sense in
the full context of the story, it also makes a lot of the story
rather moot. There is some social commentary and the movie questions
who really are the good guys and bad guys. The movie has great action
and a few scenes worthy of a “best of” zombie clip show. The
acting is good with Eriq Ebouraney putting in the best performance. I
was happy that the movie was in French with subtitles rather than
being dubbed. Dubbing rarely works and takes away from the quality of
acting. There aren't a lot of cultural barriers so those not familiar
with France and the French language shouldn't feel intimidated before
watching.
Avon calling!
The Horde could be considered a
gorefest, though it's mostly just blood instead of guts. There is a
lot of violence and good action scenes. The story is just OK,
favoring action over substance. The basic premise of a police raid on an apartment reminds me of one of the opening scenes in the original Dawn Of The Dead. It's fairly obvious where things are
going and the ending is disappointing, if expected. The acting and
directing are good with some really enjoyable scenes spread
throughout the film. The social commentary is passable, but it
doesn't break any new ground or force the audience to change their
way of thinking. The Horde is good if you're just looking for a
zombie shoot-em-up filled with lots of blood and guns. If you need
something deeper or unexpected, try elsewhere.
6.5/10
Why did she kill Markudi at the end?
ReplyDeleteWhy did she kill Markudi at the end?
ReplyDeleteBernard Joseph because he was the enemy in the first place.
ReplyDelete