Lost Platoon

My review was written in January 1990 after watching the movie on AIP video cassette.

The war pic genre is given a supernatural twist in "The Lost Platoon", but dull execution makes this a relatively uninteresting direct-to-video feature.

Premise is that four soldiers have become seemingly immortal bad samaritans, butting in during wars ranging from the Civil war to Vietnam. A photojournalist has recognized their presence in photos spanning 100 years and meets up with the creeps during a present-day skirmish in Nicaragua.

Plot gimmick that these baddies are vampires is stated but not followed up. Rather, they're simply meddlers, popping up to pointlessly change the course of various battles.] Film's silliness is telegraphed by the poor thesping of Roger Bayless as a Russian officer in Nicaragua; he doesn't even try to do an accent for the role. Exotic beauty Michiko offers some brief diversion as a sadistic femme working with Bayless, but the film's cheap battle scenes are boring.

Dated finale has the immortal platoon heading to Afghanistan to stir up more trouble.

The idea of immortal vampire soldiers is fascinating, and the mystery is quite well-kept for a while ; but once the idea is exposed, there's nothing left. A bit better than Prior's usual fare, this one keeps the militarism and racism ideology rampant in his "works" - it seems normal that American soldiers would feed on poor South Americans.

This very cheap, no frills action-horror hybrid is something in the vein of "Platoon (1986)" crossed "The Lost Boys (1987)". Also a touch of "Near Dark (1987)". Now that's got to be something… hey? Ah, no. It's inferior film-making, but despite its shortcomings (being plenty) on the technical side. The unusual concept (of vampiric soldiers moving from war to war) might be slight, but it's rather inventive, sincere and downright ambitious. I was only thinking about this film a couple weeks ago, and was hoping to come by it again. I've got fond memories of watching it when I was young. Lucky enough I found a shop selling their ex-rentals with it being one. Watching it again, it wasn't as fun (why did I have to spoil my memories), however it stays interesting and of course is unintentionally humorous. Not to say it doesn't chip in with its own sense of laconic humour.

War correspondent David Hollander heads to Nicaragua to cover the Civil war, and while there encounters four soldiers who he has in photographs going back through the last century of warfare. The thing is they haven't aged, and he believes these immortals to be vampires.

Sounds good, but it's limitations do hold it back. It opens up with kinetic camera-work straight out of "The Evil Dead (1981)", and sets the mood early on with a vivid music score and WW2 flashback sequence. Now here comes the good stuff. Director David Prior has his heart in it, despite the static and sloppy feel of his clammy direction. Action set- pieces are ridiculously goofy, as it's got that sense of; "You stand there, while you go over there. Now stop posing with the guns… shoot… and hide behind whatever is in front of you! When you are shot go out in a blaze of glory ". Well, it goes something like that, as he tries to do too much with very little. At least they're lively, and fruitful. Nearly everything takes place in a humid looking woodland backdrop, but towards the end the climax is wrapped around a Gothic castle. On a whole it gives the atmosphere a raw, gritty and claustrophobic strangle hold.

The performances range from outrageously hammy to plain stiff. David Parry's enigmatic performance is perfectly understated as the vampire leader Jonathan Hancock, donning a civil war coat, hat and sword. A bland William Knight is lousy as David Hollander, and truly living his part with aplomb is Stephen Quadros' as a wild-solider boy Walker lifted off Bill Paxton's turn in "Near Dark (1987)". Roger Bayless' cheesy bad guy impression reeks of lethal politeness, and screwed-up facials. At his right hand is the seductive, but deadly Tara played with utter coldness by Michiko. The screenplay does have some glaring holes of bafflement and an obvious ideology undercurrent to the text, and the script is generically macho with many bad lines. The vampire folklore, has one exception that they aren't effected by the sunlight, but a wooden stake does go a long way here.

In the end it's the unique idea of this supernatural hybrid that holds the shoddy production together.

The last time I watched a horror flick about undead soldiers, it was a no-budget indie production that was effectively filmed in the woods behind someone's house, standing in for another country, and for that matter, pretty much on video. Sights unseen that's what I expected of this, too - so imagine my surprise when I see 'The lost platoon' apparently benefited from actual resources and financial backing! Some, anyway! I'm not saying this 1990 release is any prime exemplar, but I recognize the (modest) time, money, and care that went into the suitably flavorful production design and art direction, the capably evocative costume design, hair, and makeup, and the gratifying, appreciable practical effects, stunts, and action sequences. Real thought went into the editing, the cinematography, and certainly the filming locations. And I really like the somber, moody energy of the music, too, arguably melodramatic though it may be.

On the other hand, whether it was a matter of skill, experience, limitations of the production, or creative choices, other facets of the picture don't come off quite so well. Take for one example - and hardly the only one - an early scene where a group of extras seemingly had difficulty following rudimentary instructions, and it comes across that either director David A. Prior lacked the know-how to try another take, and/or the production lacked the film stock. The acting is highly variable, such that while some select individuals give fairly good or at least earnest performances (I'd argue William Frederick Knight, David Parry, and Michiko), others (Stephen Quadros, Tim Lutz, Roger Bayliss) come off a lot more poorly, and even those trying their hardest have notable weak spots.

In fairness, it's not necessarily their fault. In general the direction is soft and unpracticed, distinctly dampening what vitality the proceedings might have carried; sometimes the execution is gawkily forthright. Just as troublesome, the dialogue tends to be oafish, blunt, and hokey, if not downright awful; the scene writing commonly bears good ideas but is fleshed out much more questionably. The concept of the feature is rather fantastic as an aging war correspondent discovers that four young soldiers have fought in numerous conflicts spanning several decades and haven't aged one bit - a swell blend of the horror and war genres, with the core narrative set in Nicaragua against a foe of a similar dark nature. Yet 'The lost platoon' is a straightforward action piece, and doesn't delve as much into the horror that would help the movie to stand out, and the writing isn't smart enough to tackle the themes, ideas, and questions that would make such characters especially interesting.

It's not that this title is bad. It's somewhat enjoyable, if ultimately middling and less than particularly memorable. It's surprisingly firm with regards to the craftsmanship of the contributions from behind the scenes; again, the effects and action scenes are unexpectedly sharp, and I really do like the music of Tim James, Mark Mancini, and Steve McClintock. The problem is that the sum total feels too much like a rendition of the concept that has been reduced and simplified - the most ordinary and unremarkable iteration of an idea that begins with "these soldiers are extraordinary and remarkable." At its worst the writing is all but boneheaded, and the direction has points that are sadly unconvincing, or gauche. No, 'The lost platoon' isn't bad, but it's a so-so representation of splendid notions, and maybe it never had much of a chance of being any better than that. It's duly entertaining if you happen to come across it on a quiet night. Just don't go out of your way for it, and keep your expectations in check, and maybe that's the best way to get the most out of this.

"Lost Platoon" is not a great movie. "Lost Platoon" is not even an average movie. What it is, is an intriguing idea in a bad movie. Survivors of wars from the last hundred years are tracked down in Niaragua by an intrepid war correspondent, who pieces together a photographic puzzle. Surviving as vampires, these soldiers never lose a battle, and never die. This fascinating premise is unfortunately wasted in "Lost Platoon". The low budget gets in the way of every scene, and other than the initial intriguing idea, everything else is redundant, amateurish, or downright silly. Bad acting only makes things worse, and it's really a shame, because this had tremendous, but unfortunately unrealized, potential. My girlfriend did sit through it though, and that's a miracle in itself. - MERK