Review of Deathwatch (2002) by Beth W — 24 Oct 2014

"Deathwatch" is not the be-all or end-all of horror movies, but it is an interesting one, nevertheless. I was intrigued by the film, if only for the fact it's the first horror film I've seen set during the First World War.

The film begins on the Western Front in 1917, where a group of ten British soldiers find themselves lost in a fog after an attack and soon find a German trench which is abandoned save for three Germans, two of whom are killed by the British soldiers with the third German being taken prisoner.

The soldiers proceed to capture the trench and hold it until reinforcements arrive. The trench itself is a sinister place, maze-like and filled with mud, blood, corpses and rats. However, it is not long before the soldiers become aware of something else.

..of some strange, supernatural force which is beginning to prey upon them and which is either killing them off or driving them mad and is preventing all of them from leaving the trench. It is an intriguing, atmospheric film, though it can be incredibly slow at times.

But once things get going, they get going. The film is boosted by strong performances from its cast, which includes Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Hugo Speer, Laurence Fox and Dean Lennox Kelly. The performances convey a sense of each soldier wanting to be anywhere but here, of the frustration they feel of being in the war, and later of the fear, paranoia and madness that sets in as each man is tested to his limit.

The film, with the mud, rain and fog, is persistently grim, so come expecting something like "Blackadder". However, the film has its drawbacks--at times, it is incredibly slow and there are also moments where it feels like it's trying too hard to be a horror film.

But other than that, the film is like a nightmare that only a WW1 veteran would have had, with its imagery of blood pouring out of the soil, of rotting, mud-drenched corpses, of rats eating off a man's legs while the man is still alive and of barbed wire coming to life and wrapping itself around unfortunate victims.

Despite the film's bad reception, it has it's strong points like its atmosphere, its cast and its originality and I do think it's worth watching if you're up for something different in your horror.