October 24th, 2010 - The Horde

This movie is pretty fucking awesome. It hasn't done anything I haven't seen before, but rarely done this well. It's fast paced, violent and funny. It's pretty much like someone decided to make Left4Dead the movie, but couldn't get the rights. And made it in French. And arguably more badass.

So just before the movie starts, a cop is killed. A small group of police from his district decide to get revenge on the Nigerian crimelord that killed him. Oeuss, our hero, wants justice but isn't quite as bloodthirsty and everyone else. They track the crimelord to an old condemned apartment building in the north of Paris and quickly fuck up. They are captured and tortured by Ade, the crimelord, his unstable younger brother and their drug supply. Then things get real. Turns out Paris is in the middle of a full blown zombie outbreak and none of our heroes were told. After a few zedheads cut our cast list in half, cops and criminals have to team up to work their way down to ground level and try to escape.

With the exception of some irritating handheld shots and that irksome MTV editing, this is a great looking movie. The gore is fantastic, though they do lean on the CG crutch a bit too often. It's subtle though and done well enough that I can forgive it. There is one shot near the end in a parking garage that is probably one of the coolest hero moments I've seen all year. All of the characters are great too. From Oeuss's withdrawn hero to Ade's temper and need for control and everyone in between, I liked them all. The acting is fantastic across the board. And there is a good amount of characters in the movie, which is great cause it ensures a nice, high body count.

I also have to shout out the zombie/cop cat fight that takes place right after the outbreak. It's probably only second to They Live for best fight this month. It goes on forever, and goes to some ludicrous places. And it involves a fridge. Which is awesome.

Like I said, The Horde doesn't reinvent anything. It won't surprise you with plot twists or drastically change zombie movies. You've seen this before. But I guarantee you haven't seen it with badass French dudes fucking up the zombies with homemade explosives. It was everything Evil In The Time Of Heroes should have been. Though that one had Billy Zane, so maybe it's a toss up...