GOAL OF THE DEAD

Sam (Alban Lenoir) plays with Paris Olympic football team, a team at the top of their league but recently suffering from a spell of underwhelming performances on the field. We first meet him, and his raucous teammates, on their coach as they head towards the small town of Caplongue.

A newscaster on the bus's TV monitor tells of how Paris Olympic are scheduled to play a match against Caplongue's comparatively amateurish team, and that it's particularly significant for Sam - he's nearing the end of a very profitable career, having been poached from Caplongue by his current team 17 years earlier and catapulted into the major league in the meantime. Now, he's returning to his hometown and home team for the first time since. He looks decidedly apprehensive.

As the coach draws ever closer to sleepy, deserted Caplongue, we also meet Paris' star player Idriss (Ahmned Sylla), a cocksure young shit who laps up the attention he gets wherever he goes, and pretty blonde TV reporter Solene (Charlie Bruneau) who's joined the team on their travels to obtain exclusive interview footage with both Idriss and Sam - thus capturing insights into both ends of the football career spectrum.

Nearby, in a dingy Caplongue home, middle-aged doctor Belvaux (Philippe Du Janerand) is busy hatching a plan to claim revenge against Sam. He's developed a drug that he can inject into his bodybuilder son Jeannot (Sebastien Vandenberghe) which will fuel hatred for the former local boy-turned-footie God. Alas, the drug hasn't been perfected and in actual fact it transforms Jeannot into a raging zombie-like creature Hell-bent on bloody murder.

As Jeannot goes on the rampage, he inevitably runs into the Paris Olympic coach - literally. This gives him the opportunity to vomit over a team player, effectively starting the spread of his demented condition...

With Sam and his team oblivious to the shit that will shortly hit the fan, they land in town and find a weird bunch of locals there. Sam's old pals, who he had hoped would open a training academy with him when he returns 'home' upon his retirement, resent him for leaving in the first place - "sell out!", they yell at him. Young girls are busy dolling themselves up to hopefully ensnare a Parisian player and attain the prestige of becoming a footballer's wife. Locals warm to Idriss' natural superstar persona, but are openly hostile about Sam on their evening news programme.

Yep, Caplongue is not the friendliest place this bunch overpaid sports stars have ever played in. Never mind the fans, even the rival team is hostile when the evening's game finally kicks off. Fuck it, even the game's referee is a corrupt areshole.

All of this is before the real trouble begins, and the zombies turn the heat up on the pitch...

Released to coincide with the World Cup, GOAL OF THE DEAD takes the novel approach of merging football with the undead (a cinematic first?) and treats it to a lot of style. Aesthetically, the film is consistently pleasing to the eye. Tightly edited, attractively shot and laced with inventive camerawork, there's no denying that co-directors Thierry Poiraud and Benjamin Rocher know how to sell a film visually.

Performances are agreeable and convincing too. The special effects are largely very good. Thomas Couzinier and Frederic Kooshmanian's score excites in all the right places.

The problem is the script. While frequently amusing, it's also plain to see it was co-written by no less than eight contributors and the result is an inconsistent, bloated affair that takes too much time getting going and then drags out the zombie infection action as well. In fact, considering the amount of writing skill attached to this project, it's nigh-on amazing that none of the characters are really developed during the overlong 2-hour running time.

GOAL OF THE DEAD is enjoyable. Far more, in fact, than it deserves to be: think about its concept on paper and it really does sound like opportunist, illogical shite. Kudos to the cast and crew, then, for producing something that rises above the sheer novelty of its conceit while balancing the humour and horror well enough to keep the viewer engaged. But it's not without its flaws, as detailed above.

If all that matters to you is whether the film provides the gore, then, yes: it does. And the footie is well-choreographed, albeit it's predictably of the violent and bitter variety.

I should also mention that this is actually presented in two distinct parts - the "First Half" and "Second Half" (there's even credits at the end of the first instalment). While part 1 sets up the story, part 2 provides more action but feels a little aimless in comparison.

GOAL OF THE DEAD looks excellent on this DVD, presented uncut and in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The picture benefits from 16x9 enhancement and really shows off the benefits of its HD photography well. Solid blacks, warm colours, natural flesh-tones and fine detail all work together to result in a most pleasing transfer.

French audio comes in a decent, though unremarkable, 2.0 mix. English subtitles are well-written and easy to read at all times. Thankfully, as they're non-removable.

Metrodome's region 2 encoded DVD continues their trend for offering very basic packages for their new genre releases. It greets its viewer with a static main menu page. A static scene selection menu allows access to the film via 12 chapters.

The disc is defaulted to open with trailers for the MANIAC remake, CITADEL and ST GEORGE'S DAY. Beyond those, there are no extra features - not even a trailer for GOAL OF THE DEAD.

This is a decent flick that will hopefully survive after the World Cup has been and gone. It's attractive, slick and often funny.

Review by Stuart Willis