The
death and disillusionment of WWI led to a surge in interest in spiritualism and
the occult, so a WWI horror movie makes plenty of sense as a concept. Of
course, for one Canadian tunneller, the war was already horrific enough. The
last thing he needs is a German mad scientist weaponizing a zombie serum. Much
to the regret of his Prussian commanding officer, Dr. Reiner has tried to do
exactly that, but the results are disastrous in Leo Scherman’s Trench 11 (trailer here), which screens tonight during Screamfest LA.
The
war has turned in the Allies’ favor, allowing them to dispatch a team to investigate
the massive bunker under Trench 11. The retreating Germans tried to destroy it,
but they couldn’t finish the job. Captain Jennings and Dr. Priest from British
Intelligence are convinced there is something nasty down there, so they
requisition Abrahm Berton, the best tunneller available, and a small American escort.
Unfortunately,
they find the bunker is not so abandoned after all and some of the Germans have
become so savage, they even attack their fellow countryman. As we would expect,
none of this bothers a true believer like Reiner, a.k.a. “The Prophet,” who
sees the mutated soldiers as a means of cleansing Europe of its decadence.
Scherman
and co-screenwriter Matt Booi definitely suggest Reiner and Müller, his
ostensive commander, foreshadow the National Socialists and the resistance put
up by select aristocratic officers, such as Von Stauffenberg. Yet, despite Müller’s
moral conscience, the film definitely does not do any favors for Germany’s
national image.
Of
course, Berton the Canadian is our primary POV character of this Winnipeg-shot,
Raven Banner-distributed film, which rather makes sense. In fact, Rossif
Sutherland carries the film quite well as the battle-scarred but still steely
tunneller, so it all works out rather nicely. Shaun Benson is also terrific as
the disillusioned but decisive Müller, but Robert Stadlober’s Reiner looks and
sounds more like an obnoxious club kid than an evil genius.
