Action zombie movies come often and fast. There are awesome well-known examples like Train to Busan, Overlord, and in 2021 Army of the Dead. But most will not have heard of the French zombie film La Horde. If you’re a fan of horror movies where the undead run really fast and the undead hordes are something to be very afraid of then this movie will do a few things for you. Firstly, it’s action-packed. Secondly, the heroes embody both sexes. And finally, the kills and the narrative is executed spectacularly well. The Horde is a comedy horror but it evens out its lighter moments with tonnes and tonnes of gore and violence.
What is “The Horde” About?
Imagine you’re in Paris and whether you barrack for the good guys (the cops) or the bad guys (the drug dealers) everyone is the same when it’s your life on the line. As the virus takes over the city, these guys have one heck of an escape plan to put together.
French horror movies. What I love about watching a film in a language that isn’t English is the translation. Sometimes you can have a real giggle at often inappropriate times because of the way the narrative gets translated. In The Horde, the translation for some of the dialogue is great and simply adds to the comedic element of the overall story.
Zombie Action Movies In an Apocalyptic Universe
French is such a beautiful language to listen to. It made the script for The Horde seem overtly polite at times when they should have been coming off as rough and tough. Nonetheless, it was endearing rather than something that takes away from the entertainment value. It gave the characters complexity. There is an exchange in the first quarter between the leaders of each group. Both are the epitome of manliness and both have very recently been in violent, blood-filled reactive situations as victims and perpetrators. Ouessem faces off with Ade;
“We are not friends, I don’t care for you, but I want to get out alive. Together we have a chance.”
Quote from La Horde – A zombie horror movie
So polite amid chaos.
“Holy crap! is the only way to describe the effects. These are awesome!” There is a shotgun that takes out half the head of a plastic-bag-hooded prisoner. Overall almost every scene had exceptionally designed gore and effects. Other scenes involve some glitchy CGI that ruined an otherwise perfect score for the production team’s efforts. I definitely noticed some bullet hole packs under the tightly fitted shirts of a few dynamic semi-automatic weapons kill shots too. These things can be forgiven because they were relatively minor in comparison to how much I was enjoying the movie.
La Horde aka The Horde
La Horde had so many epic kill moments that had I been in a cinema, I may have applauded. Where the usual horror trope is to have some idiot come to rescue him from certain death, the boss knows he can hold his own and keeps his brother from aiding in the fight. Moments like when José (Jo Prestia) went up against two zombies were a thing of beauty for a zombie movie lover like me.
In another scene with Aurore (Claude Perron), if the film were lazy in its plot development, there would be more incidental kill scenes. Horror tropes like the supposedly dead enemy would rise again and not be dead. This is not the case here. The Horde has plenty of effortless surprise fight scenes. Inventive and well-choreographed too. There is nothing not to like here.
Is The Horde a Good Movie?
I loved every single character in The Horde and that just proves solid writing. This is what films need. How and why filmmakers think this is an unimportant factor is beyond my comprehension. The Horde does everything right and is not only a good movie, but it’s also a great movie.
As one of the embattled heroes gets chomped on by the undead, I’ve never wanted someone to come in and hack off his hand and save his life as much as I did in this. I just wanted his character to continue on his escape mission. I was invested in all of The Horde’s cast characters, and that is a rarity indeed.
There are political nuances and societal references included in The Horde just as there are in many zombie flicks but in this instance, what would a zombie flick be without it? It was purely loved for this iconic movie. I don’t care what Rotten Tomatoes thinks. If you want an introduction to foreign feature films and you like your horror splatter-filled and headshot killed, then sit back and watch this.
La Horde film is rated
4.5 grenade-wielding coke-inhaling old guys out of 5.
The Horde Zombie Movie Budget & Release Info
- Directors: Benjamin Rocher and Yannick Dahan also co-wrote the screenplay with Arnaud Bordas and Stephanie Moissakis.
- Released in August 2009 with a budget of $2 million.
- The Horde 2009 cast includes Antoine Claude Perron, Jean-Pierre Martins, Eriq Ebouaney, Aurelien Recoing, Douda Masta, Oppenheim, Jo Prestia, Yves Pignot.
- Shout out to cinematographer Julien Meurice
Don’t believe me? Check out Movies and Mania’s review of the film.
Where to Watch The Horde
The Horde movie Where To Watch:
Favorite Quote in The Horde movie: René (Yves Pignot)
“When Your friend turns Chinese, you’re going to have to kill him!”
Quote from The Horde French horror movie
La Horde
Director: Benjamin Rocher, Yannick Dahan
Date Created: 2010-02-10 13:43
4.5
Pros
- Top zombie flick and a must-see
- Classic zombie action
- Over the top gore
- Entertaining dialogue
Cons
- Needs a sequel and a feature length prequel
