Visually strong blend of horror and action, Overlord delivers upon its promise of an entertaining, nail biting, ass kicking time at the flicks, which is more than most genre film have done this year.

2018 will be known as the year where genre tent-pole films just could not live up to the hype. The Predator, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Meg, Venom… one and all had fans of blockbuster fare salivating, only to be very disappointed. Overlord does not have that problem. Produced by fanboy favourite J.J. Abrams, this Julius Avery (Son of a Gun) directed movie expertly blends war, horror, and action genres to make for one of the most entertaining movies of the year, the kind of “hooked from the word go” film that works both on the cinema screen and (eventually) watching late at night on the TV.

Set on the eve of D-Day during World War II, Overlord follows a group of American military paratroopers who are on a mission in Normandy to take out a Nazi radio tower located in a small village. An already dangerous mission becomes even more so when rookie paratrooper Pvt. Boyce (Jovan Adepo) discovers that Nazi scientist Dr. Wafrer (Pilou Asbaek) is experimenting on corpses, resulting in zombie like creatures.

It is here when the stakes are ramped up to eleven, resulting in a glorious romp of gore, thrills, and action, expertly crafted by Avery’s on-point direction and a cracking screenplay by Billy Ray (Breach) and Mark L. Smith (The Revenant). Performances are also terrific all around, with Wyatt Russell especially strong as explosives expert and paratrooper leader Ford, conjuring his father’s (Kaur Russell for those who don’t know) trademark Snake Pilskin snarl for an especially memorable grizzled hero performance. Great too is Paul Asbaek, the Danish actor bringing an especially sinister presence to a character whose evil nature grows to monstrous heights.

Excellent production design from Jon Henson (Testament of Youth), rich cinematography from Laurie Rose (Free Fire) and Fabian Wagner (Justice League), and magnificent make-up effects, create a period action horror of high quality and even higher entertainment value. Gritty, gory, and a hell of a lot of fun, Overlord just might be one of the best genre crossover films to be released in some time.