Review: Fallen Soldiers

DVD: Fallen Soldiers (2015)

When I received Fallen Soldiers to review, I must confess I left it a couple of weeks before watching it. I hadn’t heard of the film before let alone what people thought of it, so although I was intrigued I was also sceptical.

Fallen Soldiers is a period horror film set in 1815, where a British soldier is running away from the battlefield terrified and desperate to get back home to warn his comrades of the danger they face. On the way he hijacks a carriage and begins to tell his hostage the tale of what he is actually running from.

Due to the limited budget and tight filming schedule, (can you believe there was only 12 days filming in total?) a lot of the story unfolds in one location. It is told through flashback and sometimes, to confuse matters, there are flashbacks within the flashbacks.

As the director of the movie explains in the making of documentary, there was very little money available and being honest, it did feel like I was watching an amateur historical re-enactment where a few friends have got together and filmed the proceedings and then added a zombie storyline. There are some decent practical effects with the zombies looking quite effective, but there is also some rough looking CGI.

I don’t want to be too critical because despite this films failings, director, Bill Thomas shows some potential; but, and there is a but I’m afraid to say; Fallen Soldiers wasn’t particularly scary and even at 1hr 21minutes it seemed to drag.

Fallen Soldiers is one of those movies that wouldn’t look out of place on the Horror Channel and I don’t necessarily mean that in a negative way. I commend the cast and crew for their effort as they made the best film they could within the obvious financial constraints but I can’t really recommend you rush out and buy it. However, if it is on said TV channel then you might want to check it out for yourself.

Extras include a making of documentary and directors commentary.

Review by Chris (co-host of 60 Minutes With and The Same Coin)

https://vimeo.com/129966481