La Horde

Directors: Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher

Writers: Arnaud Bordas, Yannick Dahan, Stephane Moissakis, Benjamin Rocher & Nicolas Peufaillit

Released: 2009

Labels: Action|Zombie|2000's

A small tight-knit group of police officers seek revenge on the criminal gang that killed one of their ''family." The cops raid the gang's hideout high up a derelict apartment building in a run-down part of a French city. The raid goes horribly wrong, two cops and their informant are killed and the remaining cops end-up as hostages. Suddenly and inexplicably the informant rises from the dead and ferociously attacks the gang members. A bloody fight ensues and shortly the apartment is littered with bodies, bodies that soon re-animate and attack. The remaining uninjured cops and criminals successfully fight back but soon realize that the apartment building is under siege from a city full of these bloodthirsty un-dead. Reluctantly they team up and look for a way down to the ground floor to take their chances outside.

La Horde (aka The Horde) is yet another re-telling of the ''band of humans vs the un-dead'' story (of course that's no bad thing because there's no point of having one without the other if you set out to make a film in this genre). Romero's influence is here in bucket-loads with our motley crew holed-up in a large multi-level building, think ''Dawn of the Dead," but in this case the zombies (for want of a better word) are the fast moving, infected type rather than the shuffling, back-from-the-grave type and it's that, combined with the gritty urban setting, that puts us in mind of ''28 Days Later."  

What is interesting about this film is that it dwells somewhat on the characters back-story, their emotional reaction to the situation and to each other, in doing so it gives them some depth and motives for their actions. It could also be argued that there is social commentary here that highlights the film-makers' fears about mans' inhumanity to man and society's self destructive nature. 

Although apocalyptic, La Horde is never a somber film, there are some brief moments of levity (the ''chop off his leg'' scene is one to look out for) and the action is thick, fast and positively brutal. The quantity of blood splattering is magnificent and, as well as the extensive range of weaponry in use. The heroes are not scared to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the zombies which makes for some gory slapstick moments.

There is nothing particularly new that this film adds to the genre but it gives you all that you should want from a film of its kind, and it delivers it with a firm slap across the face!

La Horde theatrical trailer

La Horde at IMDb

La Horde at Wikipedia

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