blessedmakerCurator
Overall7.5Fear1.8Atmos.7Gore5.5
Every time I see the poster artwork and name for this film, I remember looking at it in video stores (early 2000's, back when humans went to physical stores to rent movies) when I was a kid and thinking how it looked cool and "edgy". For one reason or another (my dad wasn't interested, it was R, we didn't watch a ton of horror) I never saw it.
I didn't mean for this to turn into a nostalgic story but it's funny looking back, considering that I just watched this in 2026. I was surprised at how good it was. There's no annoying cheese in the dialogue, it's all pretty natural and what you imagine young soldiers would talk like to each other. They're funny too, and there are a lot of chuckles throughout - lots of funny moments that caught me off guard. The leads in this are pretty recognizable and are quite likeable. It's interesting to see Neil Marshall's DNA in this film. I see it in The Descent (favorite of mine). A lot of the shots are recognizable; they're frenetic, while also composed in that it lets you see what's happening, lots of angled pictures too. Yeah, the puppets don't look great, but it didn't detract from the film for me, if anything I appreciated the commitment to it even more.
Good characters and actors, funny witty believable dialogue, and a film that punches way above its weight; this is a must see for any horror fan.
