Deathwatch

Scifind.co.uk rating - 3.5 - out of 5.

Reviewed By: Brian Edwards

Starring: Jamie Bell, Hugo Speer, Kris Marshall, Matthew Rhys, Andy Serkis, Hans Matheson, Dean Lennox,

Search for more on: Deathwatch

Ok so after Dog Soldiers and 28 Days Later the British horror industry is being revived.

This offering sees a band of World War 1 soldiers being trapped in a mysterious German trench, with just one survivor of the German force that once occupied it.

The problem with this sort of story is that it is a quite emotive subject and still has to be handled with respect, to me this film doesn't seem disrespectful but with there being enough horrors of war I have to ask was the otherworldly forces plot necessary? This could have been a strong film without the snake like animated barbed-wire and bleeding trench walls, just relying on the character interplay and a slow descent into paranoia.

The effects are adequate without being too invasive and the paranoia and character interplay really being the strong part of this film. Although not quite a Sixth Sense ending, there is a nice tie up that answers the big question, "What is the force behind it all?", without killing the suspension of disbelief that has built up through out the film.

A lot of the cast are people that you will recognise and end up saying , "what has he been in?"to the person next to you. You might be compelled to investigate the IMDB after watching this film. Out of the cast there is Jamie Bell from Billy Eliot and the fantastic Kris Marshall from 'My Family' who does perform well as a slightly unhinged squaddie but I continually expected him to make a stupid comment in the style of his character Nick Harper from 'My Family'. That is baggage that no actor needs.

DVD Features

Audio commentary from director Michael J. Bassett

Audio commentary from star Andy Serkis

Deleted and alternative scenes

Cast and crew interviews

'Making Of' featurette

Interactive menu Scene access