Frankenstein's Army

My previous choice for a horror film from SFF was not the best. However, I had high hopes for this one just based on the picture they had in the program.
The concept for this film was excellent. A group of Russian soldiers are sent to look for a scientist who is supposed to be a descendent of Victor Von Frankenstein who has been bringing dead soldiers back to life for the Nazi's. It sounded like a really cool spin on the zombie genre and with the Nazi vide that made it even more interesting. Sadly however director Richard Raaphorst and his writers have not done the concept justice. The major issue is that they have chosen to film the movie in the 'found footage' format that has become very popular with horror films lately. There are two problems with this. The film is set in towards the end of World War II but Richard has filmed the movie in a modern way. Although the movie is seen through the eyes of a soldier with a camera from that time the way the footage comes out, makes it look like it was filmed just recently. They should have either filmed the movie in black and white or at least made the footage look more grainy and old in keeping with the era from which it was set. The other problem I had was that being the 'found footage' format the camera moves are very jerky and shaky. This was annoying because you do not get to see very well the brilliant creatures that the soldiers come across at Frankenstein's lab. From what I could see they were awesome pieces of grotesqueness but you do not get to admire them for very long as the camera keeps moving away from them as the operator is running for his life. I'm sure that they would have spent a lot of money developing these creatures as well and so surely they would want them to be seen more clearly on screen. But do not let these problems deter you from seeing what is otherwise a really great horror film. There are a few clichéd moments but there is also a great deal of blood and gore to keep the hardcore horror fans interested. 
The cast are playing roles that fit pretty much all the stereotypes for a group of soldiers on a mission. None of them stand out particularly well. Karel Roden is probably the only familiar face to you from small parts in films. He is excellent as Frankenstein even if he does not have a terribly large part. He does though bring the right level of mad genius to the role.
Despite being made in the wrong the way this is still a very good horror film. Well worth seeing for just the concept alone.