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Rossif Sutherland as Berton in Trench 11.Courtesy of GAT

  • Trench 11
  • Directed by: Leo Scherman
  • Written by: Leo Scherman and Matt Booi
  • Starring: Rossif Sutherland and Adam Hurtig
  • Classification: 14A
  • 90 minutes

Rating:

2.5 out of 4 stars

War is hell – in some cases, literally. With Trench 11, Canadian director Leo Scherman follows the path to gory glory that calls to mind Dead Snow and the forthcoming J.J. Abrams production Overlord. Namely, by recognizing that the sincere terror of the front lines can also act as fertile ground for exploring truly gross body horror. Here, Scherman follows First World War troops battling evil German scientists 70-something-feet below ground, with the fate of the world hanging in the bloody balance. Scherman is as concerned with the claustrophobic atmosphere as he is with the sincerely gnarly special effects, which include all manner of exploding body parts. The director and co-writer is clearly adept at making the most out of a small budget, but he overextends himself whenever the story pauses the horror for some trite dialogue between the freaked-out soldiers and typical chain-of-command debates.

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