THE DIVIDE (2011) Dir: Xavier Gens

Sorry for the delay in reviews folks, I've been a lazy boy, I've watched a ton of films but just couldn't be bothered to write anything but that's changing right now as I've just finished watching The Divide and thought i'd give you my thoughts on the film. The Divide is a post- apocalyptic Sci-Fi Horror movie from the director of Hitman and Frontier(s) and it's very very good. Please click read more to read my full review.

 WARNING! SPOILERS! WARNING!

I have this morbid fascination with the end of the world, which is how I came to name this website, but my fascination doesn't just cover one type of apocalypse, oh no, I love all types. Everything from Zombie outbreak, Viral, nuclear and global destruction, although 2012 sucked monkey testicles. I also have a fascination with isolation, being cut off from the outside world and The Divide has an apocalypse and isolation thrown in, my main questions are, was it worth it and did I enjoy it?....

HELL fucking yes I enjoyed it, but it wasn't what I expected, it was so much more. The plot is basically this...There is some sort of attack on New York, possibly nuclear, a group of people take shelter in a fall out shelter/ basement and have to learn survive. But it all goes tits up as people quickly turn on each other due to lack of food and water. It's not the most original of plots, it's basically a variation on the Lord Of The Flies filtered through the lens of French New Wave horror. It's not just about people trying to survive though, there's a lot more going on here. The Divide is pretty much bang on it's title, it shows the division of people as the film goes along, one group living at the front of the bunker, the other group at the back, nobody trusts anyone, and eventually a hierarchy appears leading to confrontations of the bloody kind. The films delves into spectacularly dark areas as the survivors slowly succumb to radiation poisoning, mental stress and complete anarchy all within the confines of the shelter. It's a challenging film, not in it's depiction of violence but it makes you think of how you would react or survive thrown into a situation like the one they're in.

The film boast some seriously good performances too, obviously due to the single location of the film, it can't rely on action to push the film along so relies on dialogue and character interaction which of course brings out the performances, that's not to say there isn't any action, on the contrary, there is one part which is never fully explained where a group of soldiers dressed in white armour and face masks enter the bunker. For some reason this is never explained. But it is all about the performances and they are at times phenomenal. Milo Ventimiglia who you may recognise from TVs Heroes and Rocky Balboa plays Josh, who starts out as a sort of modern punk, wears a leather jacket, smokes and is generally pretty cool but transforms into this sadistic son of a bitch and becomes incredibly frightening as we see his change in character. He is ably supported by his sort of sidekick, Billy, played by Michael Eklund who also follows in Josh's footsteps when it comes to his change in character but for him it's more a heightened version of his original persona, he's already a little on edge but takes it to the extreme. Rosanna Arquette has the saddest transformation and gets put through the ringer as she loses her daughter and just snaps, becoming a shell of a woman who finds herself repeatedly abused, verbally and physically by Billy and Josh. It's a powerful performance and one that is rarely seen on screen these days. Ashton Holmes plays Adrian, Josh's brother who out of the two, has his head screwed on and becomes a sort equal to the level headedness of Eva, played by Lauren German. Eva is the strongest character out of the survivors and while she does have her flaws, seems to manage the survival aspect a lot better than most. It's the not the best performance I’ve ever seen and does at times come across as 'generic strong female character' but she is good but is out acted by everyone else around her. But for me the film belongs to Michael Biehn, who hasn't had a screen role this good since Navy Seals (LOL), but seriously, he is outstanding as Mickey the superintendent of the building and who's basement/shelter the rest are living in. He comes across as strangely prepared for the attack, which could be the result of the 9/11 attacks on NY in 2001 because he used to be a fireman who lost a lot of men and wanted to make sure he was prepared. To be totally honest, there's not really a duff performance from anyone.

French director Xavier Gens is at the helm on this one and after his previous English language film, Hitman, I had zero hope for this, but I was reminded that he was also responsible for the horrific and brutal French horror, Frontier(s) which was described as France's answer to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre so my hopes were raised a bit higher, and rightfully so as Gens has crafter a brilliantly dark, violent and thought provoking film. He utilizes the set brilliantly, the lighting is good and his shots are very crafted so no complaints here. The film also has a cracking score courtesy of Jean Pierre-Taieb who previously scored the aforementioned Frontier(s) for Gens. At some points there is a faint influence from John Carpenter in there, but the music really adds to the tension and atmosphere of the film.

Overall The Divide is a great big slice of survival horror, not in the vein of Resident Evil or Dawn of the Dead, but the horrors of trying to survive a catastrophe. At times I was reminded of several films and television shows that centred on survival in the aftermath of a catastrophe such as Jericho, The Road and the brilliant Testament. It has brilliant performances, some great cinematography, a well written script and it's not only thought provoking but also socially challenging. The final shot of the film is beautiful and stands next to the end of the first Resident Evil film and the final shot from The Quiet Earth in my book. I highly recommend The Divide and I’m going to award it 4 stars.