THE DIVIDE

"Not another post-Apocalyptic horror", you may reasonably protest. But wait, this one may have that little bit more to offer than most …

The predicament is this: an unspecified bomb attack has hit New York. We focus on eight survivors who are involuntarily holed together in the basement of their apartment building. Among them are level-headed Eva (Lauren German), her useless husband Sam (Ivan Gonzalez), kindly Adrien (Ashton Holmes), child-like Marilyn (Rosanna Arquette), her daughter Mary and seen-it-all fireman Mickey (Michael Biehn).

The group is completed by the volatile hotheads Bobby (Michael Ecklund) and Josh (Milo Ventimiglia).

Living with little food and water, no natural lighting and no way apparent way out of their enlarged tomb, they struggle to work together in a bid to make it from one day to the next. But as supplies diminish and tempers fray, the group grow increasingly suspicious of each other and power struggles ensue.

All of which is of no help whatsoever when mysterious assailants in white hazmat suits enter the building …

Director Xavier Gens is no stranger to brisk, violent filmmaking, having previously helmed HITMAN and FRONTIER(S). Cannily, THE DIVIDE slots somewhere in-between those two films, in terms of tone and content.

Certainly, it has a keen eye on the action movie dynamics of the former. Signposting musical cues, broad two-dimensional characters (especially the stereotypical male ones), macho dialogue and tense shoot-out set-pieces are all present and correct.

There is lots of noise and plenty of male assertiveness throughout, playing at regular intervals to the needs of the action-loving audience.

But Gens is also aware he stepped the graphic content up several notches with FRONTIER(S), and ensures the pitch is maintained here: an oppressive bleakness and high quotient of gore are both givens.

Even when some of the grislier moments rely on reaction shots rather than overtly graphic footage (the hacking apart of corpses, for example), the editing and sound design are such that some misinformed viewers on The Internet Movie Database have already dismissed THE DIVIDE as ‘torture porn’. It isn’t.

Performance-wise, everyone’s adequate. Really, Karl Mueller and Eron Sheean’s script doesn’t allow for anything more. But it’s nice to see Biehn back on the screen doing what he does best, and there’s able support from German. It’s a shame Rosanna Arquette is underused (is it wrong that she still turns me on, especially when applying lipstick in a slightly demented fashion?).

The scenario faintly echoes, at times, the likes of DAWN OF THE DEAD and THE MIST – those fraught situations where strangers fail to unite in even the most necessary of circumstances. Allusions to LORD OF THE FLIES don’t go by unnoticed either, especially in the second half when Josh and Bobby get all tribal. But Gens offers little in the way of new observations on these fronts.

Therefore, the film is best approached as an unusually dark action flick. It works as such; it’s just a shame that it dips in the middle in its cack-handed bid for human gravitas (it’s got ‘post-9/11’ written all over it at times, but lacks the sincerity to make a convincing plea for unity in the face of its gleefully staged violence).

Still, if you can get past that and the shouty-sweary excesses of the second half, this will hook you in regardless and the finale is definitely worth hanging around for.

Momentum’s region 2 DVD is a dual layer affair. I’m not sure why, but they don’t appear to have plans to release the film onto blu-ray at present.

The disc here contains the film, uncut, in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. As you’d expect, the picture has been enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The colour schemes employed throughout are deliberately toned down, providing a muted sheen to events. However, definition of detail is fine, images are sharp and contrast holds up very well from beginning to end.

English 5.1 audio is suitably robust, mixing the screams, slashes and music of Jean-Pierre Taieb together impressively. Optional English Hard-of-Hearing subtitles are well-written and easy to read.

The disc opens to trailers for HAYWIRE, ACT OF VALOUR and THE SQUAD.

Beyond those, a static main menu page gives way to a static scene-selection menu allowing access to THE DIVIDE via 12 chapters.

Extras begin with an excellent 24-minute Behind The Scenes featurette. In it, the cast speak enthusiastically about their characters, getting the roles in the first place, and slimming down to achieve that emaciated look. Split into several segments, this is a fast-paced and informative addition to the disc, although it must be said a couple of the chapters do provide spoilers as they explore the making of some pivotal FX sequences. Still, the amount of ground covered in this amiable piece is pleasantly surprising.

A 2-minute trailer is 16x9 enhanced and does its job of selling the film efficiently.

Although not without its flaws, THE DIVIDE is agreeably entertaining and doesn’t skimp on bone-crunching violence. It’s well presented on Momentum’s DVD.

Review by Stuart Willis