‘War ends at midnight, all you have to do is stay alive’
Boots on the Ground is a 2017 British found footage action horror film written, co-produced and directed by Louis Melville (co-producer of The Last Horror Movie, 2003). The Last Bullet Films production stars Ryan McParland, Tom Ainsley and Ian Virgo.
Plot:
Five British soldiers trying to stay alive on the last night of the Afghan War, facing not just the Taliban but also supernatural forces more terrifying than anything they’ve encountered before…
Reviews:
“There’s a single ten-minute long take with the actors travelling more than half a mile over heavy terrain on foot that makes you feel like you’re a soldier on the run too. Your head is dizzy with their excitement […] an innovative and scary experiment in actors literally shooting each other’s performances.” Brit Flicks
“Boots on the Ground is a fast-paced film with strong performances from its leads. Unfortunately, the film suffers from the use of unconvincing CGI and the absence of an explanation as to who why the footage is being captured. Nonetheless, the ending alone is enough to make this a film worth watching.” Found Footage Critic
“The characters could do with being a little more developed, most are simply stock characters that we’ve seen plenty of times before, the clan pretty much coming off as an Afghan Dog Soldiers troop. The story too, is a little muddled, potentially due to the manner in which it is told.” The Hollywood News
“This has a lot of atmosphere, several decent scares and some imaginative patches going for it, but feels a bit too much like a riff on The Outpost, The Bunker, Ni ciel ni la terre, Deathwatch and too many others. Nice to see a revival of the British war film tradition whereby a single unit has accents from all over the isles…” The Kim Newman Web Site
“The direction is spot on, building the tension nicely until a satisfying pay-off. If I have one criticism (we have to have one don’t we) it is that the film’s ‘reveal’ (or one of them anyway) is pretty obvious […] But that is a minor quibble and I am more than happy to give Boots on the Ground a hearty thumbs-up…” Movie Ramblings
“I was very impressed by Boots on the Ground, and that is probably the greatest compliment I could give it. I cared about what happened. It is a great war movie. It is a great heist movie. It is a great horror movie. I would recommend this film to anyone who will listen…” Nerdly
“ …the film’s bifurcating ambiguities, introduced near the beginning when the squad chooses which of two routes around the fort to take, is sustained to and beyond the film’s end, as parallel storylines engage and clash to dizzying effect.” SciFi Now
Cast and characters:
- Ryan McParland … Swiftee
- Tom Ainsley … Pawlo
- Ian Virgo … Ollie
- Valmike Rampersad … Mo
- Sally Day … Conway
- Victoria Hannent … Woman in Burka
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