Grey Knight

I didn't expect all that much watching 'The Killing Box', but was surprised at just how involving and interesting this Civil War zombie tale turned out to be. Corbin Bernsen ('L.A. Law') and Adrian Pasdar ('Near Dark') co-star as former friends turned enemies who have to join together to hunt down a mysterious group of renegade soldiers. Ray Wise ('Twin Peaks') is fine as a hard-ass Colonel, and the supporting cast includes Martin Sheen, Billy Bob Thornton and a couple of Arquettes. The film is not without a few flaws, which presumably are from post-production editing (a director's cut under the title 'Ghost Brigade' is apparently available), but overall this is an effective and atmospheric thriller that is well worth tracking down.

I wrote the alternate versions section, and I'll add here that the director's cut (GHOST BRIGADE on laserdisc, I don't know if you can get it anywhere else) is much better than the version called THE KILLING BOX, which I've seen on cable.

I don't much care for the shorter version because it tries to make the "good guy" better (by skipping his drug habit) and the "bad guys" worse (by not developing them as characters). All it really does is make the whole thing much more flat and the ending less interesting.

See if you can track down the longer version if the idea of a Civil War horror movie, or even another spin on HEART OF DARKNESS / APOCALYPSE NOW appeals to you. The other version's probably not worth your time.

In the 1860s, during the American civil war. A Confederate regiment is wiped out in a brutal massacre, but their bodies are possessed by voodoo forces from Africa that were harbouring in an underground cave. They form an army of vampire-like zombies that terrorises not just the north, but also the south. Investigating this matter happens to be Capt. John Harling. He and along with some men (and a mute slave) are appointed to go out and take care of the problem. Unknowingly to them they will face something greater than they would believe.

Reading about this particular shoot, I can see that the post-production was quite a handful for director George Hickenlooper and the film that was released was drastically cut by the producers. All of that material turns up in the director's cut labelled, "Grey Knight". This just happens to be the title of the VHS I just recently bought. Although, I've seen "The Killing Box" on TV a couple times, and honestly I couldn't tell the difference between the two. So, I guess I unluckily picked up the original release, which used one of its many titles. That figures!

Director Hickenlooper would be best known for his riveting documentary called Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, which looked at the making of "Apocalypse Now". On this occasion the results aren't so rosy, but here he still spins up an admirable little supernatural civil war offering. There are some inspired touches to "Apocalypse Now" and even Sam Peckinpah's minor western classic "Major Dundee". Despite the stimulating and rather interesting premise with its crackling voice-over by Pasdar. It just seems to promise more than it actually does hand out and it can get rather blurry in its intentions. A lack of depth and unbelievable reasoning can also add to the real emptiness created. The idea of this African folklore and the flashback imagery set in this unique setting are strikingly filtered into the film, but it can get contrived. Maybe all of this would be better expressed in the director's cut?

The grafting direction isn't much better, with a real lack of flair; guidance and the incompetently staged battle scenes come across like hokey enactments. It really does buckle under its limited budget and comes across like a made for TV feature. Although, Hickenlooper has he moments like effectively demonstrating solid period details and an underling eeriness surrounding the unusual situation. Professionally crisp and showman-like photography makes it seem larger than it is and gives it a bit more scope. Probably too much for this type of production.

Now just looking at the names involved, you'd think well this is going to be great. Not so. Most of the big names didn't get up too much. Martin Sheen and Billy Bob Thornton are nothing more than background features. Ray Wise gracefully hams it up as the crabby Col. George Thalman. Adrian Pasdar is capably sound as Capt. John Harling and his co-star Corbin Bernsen is equally so as Col. Nehemiah Strayn. Cynda Williams is fine as the mysterious mute slave Rebecca. Turning up also are David Arquette, Alexis Arquette and a blink and you'll miss role from Matt LeBlanc.

"Grey Knights" is a very flawed feature that's not very exciting and probably bites off more then it could chew. One thing that bothers me though, was that it seems to lose something each time I watch it. However, the context and atmosphere is what will keep you watching this real quirky opus.

The plot comes in a distant 2nd or 3rd in this movie, just watching some people run around in the wild, it ends up feeling a lot like a stage act. The uniforms and accents are decently portrayed. Martin Sheen does a great job at narration which adds much needed depth to the events and characters that the weak storyboard fails at. The directing and music isn't bad and at times I found it easy to nod off. But when you consider the general entertainment value instilled in this movie its still good.

The creative initial idea of an unstoppable army of Union and Confederate resurrected dead soldiers, gets trampled under the weight of it's limited budget, heavy handed direction, and chop shop editing. Many scenes are way too dark for interpretation of the action, while quite a bit of lines are garbled and incomprehensible. Character development is rushed and not acceptable. Other than the fresh concept of supernatural - Civil War genre mixing, there is little here to like. Billy Bob Thornton is wasted in a very small role, and Martin Sheen seems to be doing out takes from Gettysburg. "Grey Knight" should be considered more a curiosity than anything else, because it is simply too muddled and cannot be recommended as entertainment. - MERK