Starring: John Rhys Davies, Theo Devaney, Tanya Franks, Paul Reynolds, Tristam Summers, Rosie Fellner
Two young boys discover a long-forgotten WW2 bunker hiding a deadly secret and unwittingly unleash a supernatural force of nature. While the police try to investigate the sudden outbreak of grizzly murders, when an old veteran living in a retirement home realizes that he has vital information and might prove to be the key to stopping the carnage.
The film gets off to a rocky start, with the pair of kids who discover the bunker in the woods.
Soldier of War does take a while for the film to truly find its feet, but when the police are called to a local farm, the film is off and running. Everything from that point on is very compelling, bringing a lot of tension out in the search for a suspect, and some very well-lit night shots in the forest. The film – carves out some very nasty moments which are very well handled, especially what I consider to be its main set piece when a whole bunch of police and military fall victim to deadly booby traps in the woods.
Soldier of War takes quite a while to find its groove, with early scenes just not really engaging (except for the car accident, a very painful looking stunt to be sure). However, once the action crosses to the farm, and our detective duo start to get to work, the film starts clicking into place with some tense atmosphere and gruesome set pieces. The backstory turns out to be quite original and compelling, yet doesn’t over-explain. All in all, this is definitely worth checking out. I would rate this 3 out of 5
