"Overlord" (available now on digital) is a brutally efficient World War II thriller that follows a team of U.S. Army paratroopers dropped into France and tasked with cutting German communications in preparation for D-Day.
Produced by J.J. Abrams and directed by up-and-comer Julius Avery, it's also a horror conspiracy that suggests that Nazi scientists were working to create an army of zombies that could ensure the future of the Thousand-Year Reich.
WWII purists may object to a paratrooper unit featuring actor Jovan Adepo, since African-Americans didn't serve alongside white troops until after the war, when President Harry Truman desegregated the military in 1948.
Co-star Wyatt Russell (son of Kurt and Goldie Hawn) and Adepo have undeniable chemistry, hitting all the right war movie notes with a sergeant giving a hard time to his charge as he recognizes his potential. There's personal growth during battle and an indisputable act of heroism to defeat the enemy.
Except the enemy is Nazi zombies. And Nazis. And zombies who probably aren't actually Nazis. If you can stand the blood, "Overlord" is a blast.
We've got a clip from the home video bonus features, in which J.J. Abrams discusses the decision to cast Adepo.
