“Doomsday: Neil Marshall’s ultra-violent post-apocalyptic film with deliciously regressive pleasure”

Revealed by his excellent B series film Dog Soldiers which depicted the ordeal of six inexperienced English soldiers struggling with a pack of werewolves, Neil Marshall will continue his rise with his next film, a horrifying and 100% female behind closed doors, in the frighteningly effective The Descent.

Three years later, in 2008, he plunged into a post-apo universe with the delirious Doomsday, available on Prime Video. Scotland has become a No Man’s Land of incredible savagery, cut off from the rest of the world to stem an epidemic caused by a virus. But when 30 years later, the same virus reappears in the heart of London, a shock commando goes on a suicide mission to search for a possible vaccine in this territory left in the hands of rival gangs.

Drawing on the influences of the unstoppable New York 1997, of Mad Max 2, of 28 days later and even smelling of the glorious era of the Italian encore trending the gladiator of the future, Doomsday deploys a generous and uninhibited show, very violent and deliciously regressive, staged with a certain talent by a director whose trace has been somewhat lost since the shattering failure in 2019 of his rebooted Hellboy…

The film is literally carried at arm’s length by actress Rhona Mitra, more athletic (and deadly!) than ever, a Malcolm McDowell straight out of Medieval Fantasy and a fan of gladiator fights, and even the late Bob Hoskins, whom we are surprised to see slipping into such a film. It’s a bit all over the place, but that’s also why we love it!