Aux

Nothing to redeem this catastrophe. The reason why extremely-low-budget British films are generally avoided and laughed at.

When I sat down to watch "Aux" (aka "Soldier of War"), I had expected more of a zombiesque movie. However, that was not the case, and I was in for a less than mediocre foray into the horror genre.

The storyline in "Aux" was just so stupid that it was hard to buy into it, especially since 70 years of decomposition would have left the British undead soldier in a far, far worse state than he was. And it was just a ludicrous plot actually.

Not even John Rhys-Davies could manage to lift this movie up from the mediocre gutter. And he wasn't really all that big a part of the movie actually, which was a shame, because he could have brought so much more enjoyment to the movie.

This entire movie just felt like an ambitious low budget project. I am sure that the heart and spirit was in the right place of writers John Adams and Peter Adams, but translated to the screen, the storyline and plot just didn't really take off.

I managed to sit through this entire movie, hoping that it would pick up and become more interesting. It just never happened. So with it watched, I am sure that it will be obliterated from memory within a short time, because it left absolutely no memorable impression.

This is not the type of movie that you'' watch more than once, provided that you even watch it the first time.

This has no redeeming features at all, from first couple minutes you know how bad this is going to be. Two boys in forest one tries to shoot rabbit from 4 yards and misses target hitting metal post 2/3 foot higher up. Gun didn't appear to be shaped like a banana ! Next they go down a secret trapdoor with a torch, hold on there are two paraffin lamps alight but nobody mentions them or appears to see them. It goes on like this getting worse and worse. Whom ever directed this has too much money and not enough ability

Aux is low budget movie and it shows: there are too many scenes where people do nothing but talk, the special effects are pretty lame and the locations are mostly exteriors (a wood).

Yet, I found it weirdly likeable: it's surprisingly well acted, the core concept is good (despite some illogicalities) and the zombie has a moving backstory. Overall it's a small project that gives its best and certainly not the worst WWII zombie movie out there.

The concept for 'Aux' was a sort of interesting one, if in the danger of being silly. The cover and advertising was quite advertising. And although John Rhys Davies has been in his fair share of bad projects, he also has been in his fair share of good stuff too and he is a reliable actor and my main reason for seeing it.

'Aux' for me was not a bad film, much better than has been said already (and certainly don't have bias against low-budget British films, there are bad ones definitely but not all) and does have its pros. It is far from great and has a lot of big problems that outweigh the pros, but there are far worse films out there that are much more cheaply made, worse acted, less atmosphere, more intelligence insulting and made with much less effort.

Best thing about 'Aux' is Davies, cast against type and giving a haunted performance that is different from the usual authority figure or characters with a blustery nature. Actually generally found the adult cast better than average.

Production values could have been worse, it at least looks coherent and there is slickness and atmosphere. Parts do compel and unsettle, though they don't come consistently, the car crash and bunker scene particularly as well as the gruesomeness of the killings.

However, 'Aux' does get off to a weak start. It is rather dull, inexperience does show in the acting and the dialogue is particularly off in a script that feels awkward and underwritten. While the production values as said above could have been worse, it can feel on the confined and too compact side even if the bleak look does fit the concept. Effects are somewhat ropy.

Story does pick up a little after the shaky start, but does lack generally creepiness, tension and suspense, let down by a pace that needed a tighten and too much talk. A few parts, like the out of place picnic scene, come over as unintentionally funny and while 'Aux' does try to provide a reason for the killings it was for me not an original or compelling one, and some of it veers towards being too silly. The direction is uneven and other than Davies' character the characters are flimsily developed.

Overall, not particularly good but could have been much worse. 4/10 Bethany Cox