Michael Bassett issues a claustrophobic interpretation of the horrors of the first World War with his screenwriting and directorial debut, Deathwatch. However, the film–in many respects–is too authentic in that the setting dilutes character identification. This, atop the fact that the antagonist is metaphysically divided throughout, thus never allowing the audience to focus upon, and thereby fear, the wartime threat, culminates in a lukewarm, but nonetheless interesting, cinematic effort.
In 1919, British regiment Y, composed of nine soldiers, is caught behind enemy lines during World War I after taking a German trench. As they secure their location while night begins to fall, they do not deliberate upon why the remaining German soldiers offered little resistance. Slowly, the company comes to the realization that there is something amiss with their location and that they have not captured a typical trench.
Bassett is to be commended on creating an intriguing premise: a period horror film set during the first World War which attempts to use the genre as a metaphor for the terrors of combat. However, the work suffers, not putridly but to the extent where the film doesn’t congeal as a whole, due to several factors.
First, Bassett sets the film in a well worn WWI trench. In regards to horror, aside from the anticipated bombing–which isn’t present because, we soon realize, the battlefield has long since been deserted–we are further secluded by, not only the muddy, gray walls, but the perpetual drizzle and fog. As much as such motifs could aide a horror setting, creating a harrowing sense of claustrophobia, these facets of the production culminate in a problem for Bassett in that, aside from issuing little to no character development, the actors themselves (such as Andy Serkis and Jamie Bell) begin to blend together due to the film being poorly lit (even for a dilapidated wartime gully) and that the entire regiment spends a large majority of the film caked in mud. Incidentally, the setting is too authentic and works against the film as a whole.
Secondly, the antagonist, a.k.a. “evil,” is divided between a) an actual Lovecraftian presence which manifests itself via corpses/ghosts, barbed wire, and rats and b) the hostiles between the men themselves. True, the insanity of war can thwart patience and reasoning. However, I got the feeling midway through the film that Bassett forced the former because without it, the latter would have created a war drama (which would have been more difficult to market considering its long history as opposed to a period horror film set in WWI). As it now stands, the antagonist is distractingly ambiguous. In this regard, the climax–depending on your perspective–is daunting or trite, your call.
Third, Deathwatch moves along, perhaps a tad slowly, but assuredly. It does not boast of any dominating visuals and only a couple of scenes force the viewer to take notice. Perhaps with the addition of a back story involving the characters or an ominous, identifiable threat (at least in its potential for harm), the film would have progressed more willingly by way of housing more tension as well as having and thereby engaging the viewer more readily.
Ultimately, Deathwatch is something different but nothing groundbreaking. I can forgive the various anachronisms throughout considering Bassett was working with a limited budget. Yet, the work lacks focus and sits on the genre fence as it continually baulks at its intent. Bottom line, the film is Michael Bassett’s writing and directorial debut and, with this in mind, is solid effort, nothing more and nothing less.
-Egregious Gurnow
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
