Overlord

Film Review by Brian Stidham

I have begun to see a pattern in my film reviews. I tend to stray more into the gimmick and/or hybrid horror genre. OVERLORD certainly lands right in that pattern, as it is as much an action film as it is a horror film.

OVERLORD tells the story of paratrooper squad during World War II that are being deployed to take out a German radio tower on the eve of D-Day. Things go south when their plane is shot down. The survivors realize they are on their own to take down the radio tower or the invasion at Normandy could be at risk. Along the way, they discover secret Nazi experiments happening in a local French village using a serum that can raise the dead and create an army of violent zombie soldiers.

Nazis creating invincible, undead super soldiers? This almost sounds familiar. Have we seen this before? It is a popular topic. There are two DEAD SNOW movies, another one called BLOOD CREEK, and a trilogy of OUTPOST films (which I haven’t seen) that all deal with the same topic. I’m sure there are others but OVERELORD is the first one I’ve seen that is entirely set during WWII.

I have to admit, I didn’t go into the movie with high expectations but I found myself liking it despite my initial doubt. So what did I like about it?

It was visually appealing and had a lot going for it in the cinematography department. Considering that they had some visual effects provided by Industrial Light and Magic, as well as several other highly respectable FX teams, the visual effects and makeup work were impressive. There is also many practical effects at work, which made the horror seem a tad more visceral.

The cast was decently good. Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt Russell, turns in a decent performance as a demolition expert and de facto leader of the group. Danish actor Pilou Asbaek, known for GAME OF THRONES, hams it up as a nasty SS captain. Jovan Adepo, who plays Private Boyce, really stood out. We experience the movie through Boyce’s eyes and Adepo gave a believable performance, which really helped to convey to the viewers the true terror he was caught up in but at the same time, I felt his character was a trope. We needed a good guy and he fit the bill but sometimes he was TOO good of a guy.

Were there things I didn’t like? Thought you’d never ask…

Even though the movie was pretty intense at times, the pacing was muddled in places. It seemed like it took a while to get to the underlying story. You have this great opening scene of the planes going down, people finding survivors, ect but the horror elements took some time to manifest. Ultimately, there was a big build up to how nasty these experiments were but the payoff seemed underwhelming. Maybe I felt the trailers hinted at more horror.

Also, without giving away spoilers, I felt like the characters did some rash and/or foolish things that were completely plot device elements. For one, there is an awful lot of shooting and screaming done for a group of people on a stealth mission. Plus, they are reckless beyond belief with a sample of the serum that they manage to get ahold of at one point. Just straight up negligent.

However, a good counterpoint is, how often do people in horror movies make consistently wise decisions?

Overall. I felt like it was lacking in the horror aspect. However, that was only one layer of the film. Even though the action sequences were decent, in the end, I felt the movie came out a middle of the road offering that was trying to be a mesh of action with horror and only succeeded reasonably at both. There was a nice offering of gore and a few obligatory jump scares but it never totally crossed into full-blown terror territory and stuck more toward action/adventure. Not necessarily a bad thing, but disappointing.

Still, I feel director Julien Avery made a valiant effort even if the final product was a little lukewarm. Even though it did feel a bit unoriginal and underdone, I didn’t hate watching OVERLORD so I can’t say I was completely disappointed.

I give OVERLORD 3 out of 5 stars. It is available for streaming on Hulu and Netflix.

 

 

Some notes about our Name Plate Belts

Below we have addressed some of the most frequent questions about our Name Plate Belts.

We size our belts from the buckle end (not counting the buckle) to the tightest hole. By ordering the true waist size this method of measurement generally makes the belt fit in one of the middle holes allowing you a little room either direction.

Men’s belts are usually easy. If a guy wears 34″ pants order him a size 34 belt. The only accommodation you normally might need to make is for any over-size buckle they may want to put on the belt or if they wear “slim cut”.

Women’s and children’s belts tend to be a little trickier as different manufacturers will “tinker” with the sizing a little.

For women the following is considered a “classic fit”:

sizes 1-2 take a 24″ belt
sizes 3-4 take a 26″ belt
sizes 4-6 take a 28″ belt
sizes 7-9 take a 30″ belt
sizes 10-12 take a 32″ belt
sizes 13-14 take a 34″ belt
sizes 15-16 take a 36″ belt
sizes 18-19 take a 38″ belt
sizes 20-21 take a 40″ belt
size 22 takes a 42″ belt

For boys jeans the following is considered a “classic fit”

sizes 1-2 take a 20″ belt
sizes 2-5 take a 22″ belt
sizes 6-8 take a 24″ belt
sizes 9-12 take a 26″ belt
sizes 13-16 take a 28″ belt

For girls jeans the following is considered a “classic fit”

sizes 4-5 take a 20″ belt
sizes 6-7 take a 22″ belt
sizes 8-10 take a 24″ belt
sizes 11-14 take a 26″ belt

If all else fails and you want to be sure, the solution is pretty simple. Take a belt that fits the person and measure the leather part of the belt from the buckle end (not counting the buckle) to the tightest hole of the belt. If the belt has more than 5 or 6 holes punched just measure to the fifth hole from the tip end. Alternately, measure from the buckle end (not counting the buckle) to the hole they are wearing it in and then subtract two inches.

We make upwards of a thousand belts every year, but once in a while (our best estimate is 3% of the time), using our “pants size” method of sizing will not work for any number of reasons. Please understand that we do not have anything to gain by selling you the wrong size belt, and we are willing to make your belt ANY size that YOU order…but essentially we have two choices: First, we can continue recommending our current sizing method and expect a return rate of about 3% OR we can come up with another method and risk a return rate of 97%. Our method is imperfect, but it is all we have.

If the belt you order does not fit exactly like it should, you can return it to us for a replacement for only $8.50 to cover our shipping & handling costs. Simply return the belt to

C&W Western Horse
58 Peak Lane
Cynthiana, KY 41031

Please enclose $8.50 (cash, check, money order), and be sure to include your instructions (i.e. “belt needs to be 2″ longer.”) and if possible a copy of your receipt or packing list. Call 1-859-234-9905 if you need more information.


We frequently get emails asking us for pictures of our chocolate versus our chestnut or our stitched version versus our creased version.

There are two problems with the illustrations of the colors.

The first has to do with the difference in computer monitors. On my screen the below picture shows the color difference accurately and vividly. On yours…I have no idea what they look like.

The second is that since we are dealing with COWS here, different hides will vary a shade or two. There is frequently even a noticeable difference in different areas of the same hide.

For the record though, the top belt and the one on the right are chestnut. Chestnut is best described as a shade of burgundy, usually a light burgundy.

The left belt is chocolate. Those hides range from medium brown to dark brown, but usually dark.

The belt on the right is creased. The other two are stitched.

Scarefest 2018 Vintage Ladies Tank Top

65% polyester – 35% viscose Ladies tank top vintage Scarefest 11. Black only. Limited sizes and quantities available.

Item number 2018TT

Price $10.00

SIZE :

Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.

Continental United States only. Shipping charges are $8.50 per Gift Shop combined order unless otherwise specified.