Anyone remember William Boyd's movie THE TRENCH ? It was made in 1999 and was set on the eve of the battle of the Somme , a battle that saw the British army lose 20,000 soldiers on the first day of battle . It was fairly unconvincing not helped by the fact that the eponymous trench looked like a film set . Not so with Michael J Basset's DEATHWATCH which has a realistic miss-en-scene , so realistic in fact you can taste the mud in your mouth , the rain on your skin and smell the stench of decomposing flesh inside your nose . Anyone think war's a game ? I suggest you watch this movie because it might just change your mind . Just a pity that Basset decided to make a horror movie involving the supernatural because who needs monsters when you see what the human race is capable of
The characters are rather clichéd but no more so than those seen in THE TRENCH or THE SOMME ( 2005 ) and the cast do their best especially Andy Serkis who plays a violent maniac . 10 million people died in the first world war so it's refreshing to see a soldier from that period actually enjoying killing the enemy so much simply down to blind hatred . You think the Jerries and Tommies played football together and drank schnapps every Christmas ? Think again . What really ruins the film is the main story of a supernatural force in the trench alongside the soldiers . It's very confusing and underdeveloped and in places just downright silly , especially that ending
In short this is a film that could have been a modern anti-war classic . Basset has made a highly atmospheric film with some very disturbing imagery . It's interesting to note that the scene everyone remembers is the one where the blankets are pulled back , a scene that you feel uncomfortable watching because you just know something like that has happened in real conflicts in the past and will happen in future conflicts . Did we need supernatural damnation when all you have to do is switch on the TV every day to see the human race damned by it's own hand ?
The characters are rather clichéd but no more so than those seen in THE TRENCH or THE SOMME ( 2005 ) and the cast do their best especially Andy Serkis who plays a violent maniac . 10 million people died in the first world war so it's refreshing to see a soldier from that period actually enjoying killing the enemy so much simply down to blind hatred . You think the Jerries and Tommies played football together and drank schnapps every Christmas ? Think again . What really ruins the film is the main story of a supernatural force in the trench alongside the soldiers . It's very confusing and underdeveloped and in places just downright silly , especially that ending
In short this is a film that could have been a modern anti-war classic . Basset has made a highly atmospheric film with some very disturbing imagery . It's interesting to note that the scene everyone remembers is the one where the blankets are pulled back , a scene that you feel uncomfortable watching because you just know something like that has happened in real conflicts in the past and will happen in future conflicts . Did we need supernatural damnation when all you have to do is switch on the TV every day to see the human race damned by it's own hand ?