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LA HORDE / THE HORDE
France, 2009, 90 minutes. Colour.
Claude Perron, Jean- Pierre Martins, Eriq Ebouaney.
Directed by Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher.
The Horde is a gruesome horror film – presented seriously without parody of the genre. It is reminiscent of George Romero’s Day of the Dead and Living Dead films.
The film takes place over a short period. A group of police go to a funeral mourning one of their dead. They form a posse that attacks the group of criminals, led by two Nigerians, responsible for the death. To this extent it is a grim police drama, two groups of amoral people clashing. However, it soon appears that Paris is being overrun by zombies who are threatening people in the high-rise building. The two groups join forces, however suspiciously. They have to reach the ground floor in order to escape. However, zombies keep intruding on the group’s tactics, some of the police and the criminals being killed. There is a showdown between two of the criminals against the leader, one of the rebels being his brother. The brother is soon dead – and the leader confronts the rebel criminal and kills him. In the meantime, the police try to reach the bottom floor – with the help of a local who is strong with guns and weapons.
As they reach the ground floor, there are more scenes of savagery, blood-crazed and starving zombies, pounding at the gates. One of the police gets his guns, helps the others escape, chases through the zombies killing many of them till he finally stands on top of a car, firing all his rounds – but ultimately being overwhelmed by them. This is one of the most powerful sequences of the film.
The ending is surprising. The surviving woman in the police group draws a gun on the Nigerian leader, he falls to his knees, dreading being killed – and she shoots. She stands alone surviving.
While the film is gruesome, it is almost nihilistic – a film very well made but very difficult to sit through by ordinary audiences. Serious fans of the genre will be pleased – although those who enjoy the tongue-in-cheek humour and parody may be disappointed at its seriousness.