Soldier of War

This fun action-horror has a great U. K cast, including the mighty John Rhys-Davies, Tanya Franks and Paul Reynolds who gives great value as a perpetually-annoyed policeman, and who also gets one of the best death scenes in the film. There are some fun set-pieces along the way, with the lead police characters always just two steps behind the killer. A lot of fun, especially if you're into indie genre film-making.

Aux is low budget movie and it shows: there are too many scenes where people do nothing but talk, the special effects are pretty lame and the locations are mostly exteriors (a wood). Yet, I found it weirdly likeable: it's surprisingly well acted, the core concept is good (despite some illogicalities) and the zombie has a moving backstory. Overall it's a small project that gives its best and certainly not the worst WWII zombie movie out there.

Suspense, thrills, excitement, not in this film. I am sorry to say this is one of the worst films I've ever seen. The script was unbelievable, in the sense it was not remotely plausible and just shockingly bad. Despite having some good actors involved it appears they couldn't manage to breathe any life into this dreary film. The failure to develop any characters to any meaningful level meant there was no attachment to any of them. This lead to a lack of any feeing of suspense or any interest at all in their fate. It was a struggle to watch this film. I wasn't squirming with fear of a supernatural psychopath but of a fear it would never end. A good premise but very poorly executed.

This was clearly made with "Jaws" like cinematic suspense in mind, but it has a "Sy Fy" made for television movie feel. Maybe over there in the U,K, that's just a trend they're turning out. The story is interesting enough to keep you watching, and the acting is television soap opera quality which isn't necessarily lacking, in any department. Worth a watch for any reason as it is also a throw back to 70's slasher films, with a modern update.

When I sat down to watch "Aux" (aka "Soldier of War"), I had expected more of a zombiesque movie. However, that was not the case, and I was in for a less than mediocre foray into the horror genre. The storyline in "Aux" was just so stupid that it was hard to buy into it, especially since 70 years of decomposition would have left the British undead soldier in a far, far worse state than he was. And it was just a ludicrous plot actually. Not even John Rhys-Davies could manage to lift this movie up from the mediocre gutter. And he wasn't really all that big a part of the movie actually, which was a shame, because he could have brought so much more enjoyment to the movie. This entire movie just felt like an ambitious low budget project. I am sure that the heart and spirit was in the right place of writers John Adams and Peter Adams, but translated to the screen, the storyline and plot just didn't really take off. I managed to sit through this entire movie, hoping that it would pick up and become more interesting. It just never happened. So with it watched, I am sure that it will be obliterated from memory within a short time, because it left absolutely no memorable impression. This is not the type of movie that you'' watch more than once, provided that you even watch it the first time.

I would love to be able to give this film a ten because the premise is actually really smart, but it gets let down by not having the resources to deliver the scale and quality of effects needed to do the idea justice. It starts as a slasher film but quickly hints at supernatural undertones and neatly meshes the slasher/creature genres until the twist. No spoilers but John Rhys-Davies (who is as always superb here - "Nobody tosses a dwarf!") provides a chilling monologue that grounds the story in the true history of WWII, delivered in a way that is emotive, thought provoking and entirely unusual in this type of movie! I was utterly hooked from the first ten minutes, which are basically non-stop action, but the WWII hook really grabbed me and had me on the edge of my seat for the last act (basically an advance to battle which would've benefitted from a lot more troops!) I was still thinking about the story the next day and looked a few of the facts up on Google to check if stuff mentioned in the film really happened. Really recommend checking this out as long as you can look past its budget restrictions. Would love to see this concept remade with more money.

Deep in the forest, two teenage boys accidentally discover the entrance to a secret military bunker hidden since World War II. They awaken an undead soldier who soon wipes out everyone he comes in contact with, including the police who are trying to solve the crime. Only a World War II vet with dementia (John Rhys-Davies!) knows how to stop the killing. I really enjoyed this British horror film that has high production values despite its low budget. There's more than enough gore on display and the actual practical effects of the zombie soldier are pretty impressive. Usually, most films suffer when they leap genre. Here, the film effortlessly moves from police procedural to slasher film to supernatural zombie film. There are also elements of rural horror here. This is one of the better independent releases I've seen in awhile. I'd compare its look and kills to a favorite 80's slasher, The Prowler, but with a modern edge. The story of the soldier never stopping in his mission gives this film's antagonist plenty of reason to be and the old soldier that must conquer age and doubt to stop him is just as well-formed.