Overlord is a pulpy action flick about a group of World War 2 soldiers caught behind enemy lines, who then uncover a massive secret that Hitler’s army had kept under wraps. All in all, Overlord is a fun movie that doesn’t slow down, but never explodes out of normalcy.

The story in Overlord revolves around Private Boyce (Jovan Adepo), a new soldier from Louisiana who is assigned orders to destroy a control tower in France, allowing the US armies to communicate during D-Day.  As he and his fellow grunts are on the plane to the mission objective, it is gunned down and they are then trapped behind enemy lines. When they finally reach the tower, there is much more happening under the surface than they thought.

One of my favorite things about this film are the set designs and practical effects. It felt like the creators of this film really loved splatter-house movies and wanted to create one for a larger market. Some of the creatures and creations look straight out of an old late-night gore film, and that’s a great feeling. 

While they do double down on this towards the end of the film, the beginning feels a bit bogged down by explanation and character building. I typically love slow burn movies, but this movie was meant to be a blast, so a slow start hampered my enjoyment for sure.

Also, the characters are very typical, and each one is a usual WWII soldier type. One is a wisecracking jerk, the other is the weak photographer, another is too extreme and bloodthirsty, and the main character is a neutral mix of everything. They could have pushed the limitations of that stereotype more and it possibly would have helped make the character development more interesting. 

All of the actors did great in this film, and I loved watching a movie where I didn’t know any of the cast. I love when movies thrive inside their budget, and this movie absolutely does that. They utilized every tool of the trade to make this movie as convincing as possible, and I really appreciate it for that. The chemistry seems believable between all the different soldier dynamics, and I hope to see some of these actors in the future. 

Just like M. Night Shyamalan was a lot of people’s first thriller or horror film, I’d say Overlord is a great first step into late-night gore films. It’s nothing too shocking, but also has enough to see if you’re interested. I’d recommend this movie as a rental, and I do think it’s worth watching, although it’s pretty forgettable. But, if you want a more friendly approach, gather all your friends up and check out Overlord.