Movie Review: Onslaught

 

Adam Wingard brushed off the failures of Death Note and Blair Witch in a very unique way by making a pair of successful, pretty well-liked blockbusters in Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. With his artistic image rehabilitated and producers eager to work with him after making Warner Brothers a boatload of cash, Wingard had the freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted when he elected to not come back for the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. Instead of going bigger, Wingard decided to return to his down-and-dirty genre movie roots for the first time since 2014's The Guest with original action horror vehicle Onslaught. While it's not as high on giddy energy or sleazy thrills as You're Next or The Guest, it's still a welcome return to the style of filmmaking that put Wingard on the map. 

For those of you out there that have seen Wingard's early work, Onslaught is speaking a language you're fluent in. His fascination with the evils of the military industrial complex and love of 80's B-movies are the driving forces behind this tale of a PTSD-afflicted Army veteran (Adria Arjona) rotting away in an isolated trailer New Mexico trailer park who has to rely on her old skill set when a trio of genetically enhanced super soldiers (Alex Pereira, Dave Campbell, Tyler Hall) created by a former Nazi scientist (Dan Stevens) designed to wage war on the American populace escape from a secret government facility after a test run for their private contractor buyer (Michael Biehn) goes awry. Wingard is completely at ease returning to operating in his old sleazy register as he concocts an efficient, stylish pseudo-slasher flick that feels like it was ripped from the bottom shelf of a video store circa 1986. Some viewers will take issue with how thin Onslaught's story/social commentary is, and I can't argue with them on that point as it's mostly just there to provide an excuse to unleash these glowing-eyed killing machines onto an unsuspecting population. However, there is so much cool shit going on (Gigantic blood squibs! Insane chainsaw kills! Oren Soffer becoming the latest cinematographer to prove that night scenes on digital cameras can look sick if they're lit properly!) and magnetic actors (Arjona, Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Reginald VelJohnson, Eric Warehiem and MVP Drew Starkey with a mesmerizing freak turn that has finally sold me on his status as one of the industry's rising stars) having fun throwing themselves into this weird little fucked up world that I didn't really care that Wingard was more interested in reveling in his long overdue return to his beloved grindhouse aesthetics than examining the contempt the United States government has for its own people and the role that the military plays in carrying out this violent disdain. Onslaught is a flavor of genre picture that doesn't really exist anymore and when somebody like Wingard is responsible for bringing one into the world it's a legitimate cause for celebration among the small group of sickos who care about this sort of thing. Welcome home to Sleazeville Mr. Wingard, hopefully you can stay a while before you get called back up to the higher class digs of Blockbuster City.

Grade: B