The French film "La Horde" doesn't exactly bring a fresh approach to the over saturated zombie genre, yet is still entertaining enough for what it is. It benefits from its breakneck pace and intensity, and is just as much about character as it is bloodshed. (Not that it skimps in the gore department at all, though, far from it.) A quartet of detectives - Aurore (Claude Perron),Ouessem (Jean-Pierre Martins),Jimenez (Aurelien Recoing),and Tony (Antoine Oppenheim),find the dead body of a colleague and turn rogue, vowing to avenge his death. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned: first, their quarry, gangster Adewale (Eriq Ebouaney),is able to get the drop on them, and start torturing them, then this big mess becomes an even bigger one when scores upon scores of the living dead start to overwhelm humanity, as the apocalypse seems to have begun. While this is all pretty predictable in terms of the script, "La Horde" does manage to entertain by ensuring that its audience never gets bored. It starts quietly enough, but soon it's kicked itself into a high gear and has stayed there. Some zombie cinema lovers may take exception to the fact that these are very FAST zombies, as well as to the generous array of digital rather than practical carnage, but if you don't concern yourself too much with those elements, you may find this a reasonable viewing experience. The characters, by and large, are NOT sympathetic, including the cops, so the lack of rooting interest may make this hard for some people to follow. Still, as in any film with a similar premise, there is a certain amusement in seeing cops and crooks alike being forced to team up in order to survive - and, as we can see, the crooks aren't completely one- dimensional. The acting is good for this sort of thing. Both Martins and Ebouaney have a formidable screen presence, and Martins has one hell of a great exit where he truly goes down fighting. While "La Horde" may not be among the most stimulating films of its kind - at least in an intellectual way - one could definitely do far worse, as it manages to maintain a fever pitch for much of its duration. Seven out of 10.

Not recommended for fans of typical zombie films.

Recommended for those who have been waiting for an independent horror film which does not simply make fun of the genre.

A team of angry Parisian police officers vow revenge against a gang lead by two Nigerian brothers who have recently killed a friend of theirs. They lead a seemingly suicidal, unsanctioned, raid on the gang's compound and are almost immediately captured. As the torture, interrogation, and killing of police slowly reaches an apex, it becomes apparent that the cops and gangsters should probably be the least of each other's worries. Inexplicably, zombies are destroying civilization, and Paris is burning. Don't be fooled by the complete absurdity of this premise. The Horde, though redolent with the usual genre-defining campiness and cliché, is not a self-parody, and does not bother to explain itself.

Aside from Mr. Romero's more serious efforts, I have rarely seen a zombie film which was created with the level of TLC that went into The Horde. Most of the characters actually have their own personalities and the acting is good. The script is, though predictable, a lot less absurd than the usual horror film, and never insults your intelligence. Though the film is not utterly humorless, it stops well short of comedy, and carries its plot admirably. The visual effects and choreography are excellent. Claude Perron's fight scenes are especially entertaining.

My summary line is pretty clear I think and I will talk a bit about the story plot. Because the movie begins like a cop thriller and ends up being a zombie action movie in the end. Using the "Dawn of the" comparison fits the bill here also. Although as it is more action than horror, it's more like french version of the new "Dawn of the Dead". People "locked" up in a building, while Chaos surrounds them, with only a few social and/or political comments.

While I'm a huge fan of the original (George A. Romero) "Dawn", I thought the remake worked as an action movie. And so does this french movie too. If you can watch it on the big screen with an audience, the experience is really great (a Festival even, as I had the chance to) on a big screen (fun action ride that is).