The Horde

Horrorphile

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La Horde (The Horde)

August 23rd 2010 05:33

Gallic flesh tearin’ zombie mayhem! The Horde (2009) is a blood-soaked carnival ride; all loud noise and ferociously exhilarating. For a screenplay co-written by four people, there’s not much plot; several cops on a vengeful mission to free a kidnapped colleague end up in a derelict apartment high rise on the outskirts of Paris. After the initial confrontation and conflict with the murderous criminals who had taken their friend hostage, a more serious problem presents itself: the dead are returning to life and are possessed with a ravenous appetite for human flesh. The zombie plague is upon us once again!

Eriq Ebouaney as Ade

The Horde packs a lot of action and carnage into its 90-minute running time. And there’s a fair amount of running too. These zombies are of the Dawn of the Dead (2004) remake kind: they don’t shuffle around like George Romero’s sluggish undead, they run like motherfuckers and wail like hounds from hell. They want your guts and they want them now! Co-directors Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher don’t pull any punches; they go for the jugular and rip the throat out. Like [REC] (2007), the ghoulish situation is presented as a claustrophobic nightmare, with lots of handheld camerawork and low lighting.

Claude Perron as Aurore

But it’s over-the-top too with one scene in particular stretching plausibility into the absurd. But it makes for a great horror stand-off: the cop on the hood of the car surrounded by zombies clambering over each other in an effort to get at the cop who is keeping the zombie's flailing arms at bay with wild swings of his machete. I was expecting a nod to Romero’s Day of the Dead (1985) body-ripping showstopper, but the image of all the zombies piling in on each other, bloodied hands outstretched, filling the screen, was a powerful nightmare moment all of its own.

Yves Pignot as Rene

Much of the special effects gore is CGI work, but it’s done well. Although the survivors never seem to remember to shoot the fuckers in the head, wasting countless rounds on shooting torsos, although there are some spectacular head injuries. The horror violence is ramped up for the most part, so gorehounds won’t be disappointed. What the movie lacks in subtlety makes up in savagery. The Horde takes no prisoners.

Paris is burning

This is the zombie apocalypse and it’s dark and laden with doom. The Horde doesn’t make any attempt whatsoever in explaining the undead, it simply presents the two factions: the cops and the crims and throws them in the deep end, up to their necks in blood and brains. You get bitten, you get infected, and that much is true. There’s brawn and bravado layered on thick. Even Aurore (Claude Perron) has got formidable cajones. She won’t go down without a fight. And there’s hell to pay.

Jean-Pierre Martin as Ouess

The Horde doesn’t offer any new angle on the plight of the vicious zombie. But it’s great horror entertainment. Acting, cinematography, SFX (CGI-reliant, but some prosthetic work), and score are all excellent. The French have taken the ball and they’re runnin’ with it! They’re kickin’ butt, and I don’t mind that there’s nothing new under the undead sun, if you’ve got the nightmare elements sorted, then flaunt it, and The Horde delivers.

Here’s the trailer:

The Horde DVD is released 16 September through Hopscotch Films’ Other label.

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

15 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by David O'Connell

August 23rd 2010 07:01

Screen Fanatic

Ah mate, you bloody beauty! I've been hanging out for this ever since seeing a clip on ATM last year when they were covering Venice I think.
I saw it was arriving on DVD last week and just knew you'd be all over it like a rash in double quick time! I need a Kleenex right now to wipe the embarressing drool off my chin.

Comment by ShaunK

August 23rd 2010 11:14

Screen Adventure

they run like motherfuckers and wail like hounds from hell. They want your guts and they want them now!

- bravo

I like - looks like fun!

no Taxi Driver review?

Comment by Bryn

August 23rd 2010 23:11

Horrorphile

I've been swamped by screeners! Taxi Driver will now have to wait a week.

Comment by JohnDoe

August 29th 2010 15:50

Film & TV on DVD

Love the poster straight away Bryn,

naturally you sold me on this, the trailer looked fun and then I forgot all about it. Thanks for the reminder.

Comment by Bryn

August 31st 2010 00:48

Horrorphile

JD, enjoy the viscera.

Comment by David O'Connell

June 9th 2011 10:41

Screen Fanatic

Just saw this tonight Bryn - finally. Not bad at all, but not great either. Didn't like the CGI assisted hand-to-hand fighting at all. The whole thing was feeling a bit underwhelming until the introduction of the mad old bastard played by Yves Pignot. He was pure gold and had all the best lines, no doubt. Made for film, for mine.

Comment by Bryn

June 10th 2011 04:28

Horrorphile

"Made for film, for mine." ... I don't understand that I'm sorry.

Comment by David O'Connell

June 10th 2011 04:44

Screen Fanatic

Damn - grammatical oversight there mate - meant that "he made THE film", in my opinion!

Comment by Bryn

June 10th 2011 06:24

Horrorphile

Aha! Gotcha! As repetitious and familiar as the movie was I enjoyed the ferocity and atmosphere.

Comment by Simon cobos

June 25th 2011 08:56

Again found this one in your old posts, thank you so much for adding this to my favorite zombie movie collection. Very impressed by the French also the cgi was top notch. I would like your opinion on a topic me and my wife have been puzzled about. To me there are two different type of zombie movies, 1. Infected zombie- zombies that are once human until a virus of some sortmakes them zombies 2. The undead zombie- which simply rise from the graves and morges. The problem is that if it's a Undead zombie why is it when they bite you you become a zombie? I understand the Infected zombie be use they transfer the virus, but why the Undead zombie?

Comment by Bryn

June 27th 2011 05:13

Horrorphile

All zombies are the result of an infection/virus. Even Romero's Night of the Living Dead zombies have become infected by the radiation from a returning space probe. This is never actually mentioned in the movie, but Romero admits to it being the cause (ie it was part of his original screenplay treatment) ... The only real difference I see is between the shuffling undead and the running undead. There are the "atmospheric" zombies and the "raging" zombies.

Comment by Simon cobos

June 27th 2011 08:38

Touché mr.horrorphile, I do need to brush up on my Romero director commentary, and I do wish they would have explained it in this movie. Thanks again

Comment by Bryn

June 28th 2011 04:22

Horrorphile

I kinda like that the zombie concept is never fully explained in any of the zombie movies. Just as I love how John Carpenter never explains how Michael Myers appears to be the bogeyman incarnate (I hated how Rob Zombie explained it all in his dreadful remake)

Comment by Simon cobos

June 29th 2011 16:20

Some movie are just best left unexplained I do agree, and your right about liking how La horde not explaining anything about how the zombies came to be, it would have made the movie a whole lot longer. Oh and I just don't like Rob zombie's movies period. His movie focuses on the sex factor in horror movies wayyyyy to much, as I think you have pointed out in your 13 elements a horror movie needs post that sex and death go together but a unnessasary amount kills the movie for me