When two young boys playing in the woods discover a military bunker they unintentionally release the ghost of World War II auxiliary soldier who mistakenly believes the Nazis have landed.

What should you do when a series of murders has occurred in the same place, the news continues to inform about the events every day and the police have warned not to approach the crime scene? The logical answer must be clear: you should not put your life in danger. However, in Soldier of War you’ll get to see a family enjoying a picnic and a couple willing to have sex at an active crime scene because there is no logical reasoning since there is no flesh-and-blood killer.

The film begins with two children rambling through the woods in search of hares to shoot them for fun. Immediately, one of the children discovers an underground hut with artifacts older than the shock value of this film. Once the place is discovered, the children accidentally release a spirit with a thirst for revenge to annihilate the enemy. It is worth mentioning that this spirit believes that it has been freed in times of war, and its purpose is to eliminate as many Nazi soldiers as possible.

It’s a ‘good thing’ that Soldier of War leaves no loose ends. The story is simple enough to keep its focus on showing, without much detail, the bloody scenes for each victim of the evil soldier/spirit. The only thing the film can guarantee is that it will deliver the gory goods, not as graphic as fans of the genre might expect, but bloody enough to fill a small void left due to the terrible characters created.

The acting is terrible because the characters are terrible. For filling specific career profiles as described for the characters in the plot, a lot of essence is missing for each one: cops act like civilians, soldiers act like cops, and civilians act without motive. Although, it’s a surprise to see John Rhys-Davies in the character of Jack, a war veteran who knows the what, when, where and why of the events. His character isn’t bad but nor is it good; it’s an in-between to be blamed on the writers.

The most terrifying thing about the picture, more frightening than the moment when you can finally see the killer’s face, is the audio and video editing; it is bad. The film relies on pre-recorded or canned audio for every sound effect played, from the firing of a gun, to a woman’s scream. The video editing starts as an homage to 70’s horror films, but after 20 minutes, the editor probably forgot where the movie was headed and decided to go against the introduction to use simple shots with quick transitions.

Soldier of War lacks many things to make it a decent independent film. But, if the viewer is the type of person that would rather see the quantity of gore over quality, then this is the closest pick for a movie night.

MARCH 3 (VOD)   |   APRIL 9 (DVD)