Bezenby Mon dieu! For some reason the Metro newspaper touted this as the 'first even French zombie film' completely forgetting about Zombie Lake and the Grapes of Death. I haven't seen the Grapes of Death, but can tell you right now that it's much better than Zombie Lake (although not as funny).A group of French cops head for a mostly derelict block of flats to get revenge on some gangsters for killing one of their mates, and to rescue their boss who is being held captive. Of course, they completely botch the job, ending up captured by the gangsters and all lined up against a wall, ready to be executed. Outside, some sort of ruckus builds up and it becomes apparent to our people that something really bad is happening in Paris. The living dead have returned! Which I think has only happened in about three films ever up to this point.You know the drill. Loads of arguing, then everyone teams up eventually after a few folks get munched on. There's a pretty good sequence when the executed boss of the cops resurrects and the gangster fire about a million bullets into him (and some unlucky gangster). These are your fast moving zombies right here, so the survivors have to make it out of the building alive. However, some gangsters don't forget who they are, and some cops don't forget why they came to the building in the first place. Never mind pointing out that they were probably safer in the block of flats because I tried that and the film didn't listen anyway.Along the way they also meet a crazed elderly man who's quite handy with a machine gun and there's all sorts of shenanigans as the crew try to escape from the basement. While just another zombie film, the Horde play a bit with your expectations and those you expect to escape might not be the ones to make it.It's not hard to make an enjoyable zombie film (although it's surprising how many fail), and the Horde manages to be just that: An enjoyable zombie film. It keeps the pace up and throws in loads of zombie action. Just when you're beginning to think the film is flagging a bit, it picks up again. Don't worry if you miss it though – there's probably about a million zombie films being made as a type this.

Matt Kracht The plot: A group of rogue cops go on a black ops mission to assassinate a cop killer, but a zombie outbreak forces the cops and gangsters to cooperate.The Horde is more about characters and stylistic excess than plot. It takes an overused genre cliché, a zombie siege, and twists it into an interesting story, full of nice shots and violent action sequences. Within the confines of the genre clichés, you can also see subtle satire. I enjoyed how the nominal "good guys" and "bad guys" are not nearly so black and white, and, instead, merge into a single group, despite the protestations from several people involved. Squabbling survivors who refuse to work together are nothing new to the genre, but The Horde manages to turn this additional cliché into brief statements about tribalism, military interventionism, racism, sexism, immigration, and family violence. As a fast-paced action movie, it's more concerned with exploitative violence than any kind of social message, but there's some depth to it, if you feel like looking. Otherwise, you can just enjoy the carnage. With the excellent fight choreography and stunt work, there's plenty to go around. Although the zombies tend to be the frenetic modern re-imagining, it doesn't get out of hand, and purists (who insist on slow zombies) should not be overly put off.If you're looking for something original, I'd suggest Fido. If, on the other hand, you're in the mood for something that celebrates genre conventions, while slipping in a bit of satire, I heartily recommend The Horde. What it lacks in originality, it makes up for in other areas.

manjodude Whoa! This is one quite unknown zombie movie which surpassed my expectations.What starts out as a typically vengeance drama between two warring groups(cops vs gangsters) in a run-down apartment takes an unexpected turn when they both least expect it. We don't get to know how the people result in zombies. Mostly, the movie revolves around the survivors who would have finished each other off if not for the undead...First rate acting by everybody. Yves Pignot as one of the crazy, trigger-happy apartment tenants is a powerhouse! Eriq Ebouaney as Markudi, the head of the gangsta mob also impresses with his intensity and searing eyes.What is quite creepy here are not the zombies, its the clash between the lead characters and how the zombies are really not cruel as these people. They are just hungry...Watch out for the violence, it's quite graphic.Of course, sometimes the scenes don't make sense - where did these zombies come from, how did they become zombies, how come they get up only when our survivors just tiptoe by.. :) Verdict: A claustrophobic yet very engaging drama. This's one movie, zombie or not, that hooks you whole.

fedor8 France is in the grip of utter chaos and anarchy, a country at the end of its tether. It has been overrun by zombies. The silly creatures now make up nearly all of the country's population. Yes, it has finally happened, what every sane Frenchman and every free-loving French citizen had always feared: France has become nearly 100% Socialist.This movie should serve as a stark reminder what happens when nearly everyone starts voting for the Left. There is no worse thing.Much like "The Meaning of Life" is invaded by a short film, this movie starts off as a crime thriller that soon gets invaded by a horror film, sort of like "Deep Rising"."Le Hordes" is a slickly directed film, if a little too dark (to hide the CGI flaws probably), another reminder of the quickly improving French cinema. Once just a place where pretentious award-winning dramas were made, but now a top force in the world film market. Of course, this has as much to do with the U.S. film industry's demise in the past decade (quality-wise, of course, I'd never question the dollars pouring in from bird-brained teens watching the likes of Kristen Stewart clown around in big-screen turds).By French standards, this is almost a Disney version of a horror film. Quite violent and bloody, yes, but next to the ultra-sadistic/perverse offerings such as "Malefique", "L'interieur", or "Martyrs", it is "Happy Sunny Otters Frolicking In The Mud" practically. I would have preferred a little less talking and more action, but the writer deemed it necessary (for whatever reason) that we should get to know these irrelevant soon-to-be-zombie-fodder characters a bit better.Characters nearly all of whom are cops and gangsters – which is possibly why nobody in this movie ever manages to figure out that a shot in the head is what is required to kill a zombie. I waited and waited, but it never happened; at no point did a cop or gangster say "hey, notice how they drop to the ground after we shoot them in the head!" There is plenty of mean-cop/rough-gangster tough-guy Mediterranean-movie macho-bull posturing, too much in fact, but this isn't a major problem.I don't expect a zombie film to be original, but I do expect SOME measure of effort or imagination when it comes to the ending. Unfortunately, this movie has none, no real ending to speak of, just a cop-out finish. The alpha-male black gangster and the wiry female cop escape the building, she executes him, and then we hear sounds of more hordes surrounding her. Last scene. Simply not good enough. After that, it's the end-credits. If you thought rap was a ridiculous form of "music", you ain't heard nuthin' yet, at least not until you've heard French rap: it's absolutely ridiculous.Aside from the vapid ending, the other minor problem I have with the movie is Claude Perron. No, he's not an actor. He's an actress. But you can be easily forgiven for mistaking her for a guy. This woman is far too unattractive for a horror action flick. (I could see her in a dumb costumer or a moronic chick-flick; isn't that where they're supposed to be casting all the uglies?) If I am forced to watch yet another modern-day gung-ho feminist take on "girl power" – in form of yet another anorexic-yet-somehow-amazingly-strong power-chick shtick chop-socking bad guys left-and-right – then I at least want the woman in question to be a looker, and not this. Still, the action sequences which involve her aren't too lara-croft-ish, I guess; it could have been much sillier when one considers what absurd skills these skinny ex-models are usually given in the recent spate of action turkeys. Hint hint James Bond films and Milla Jovovich.