Overlord

Cert: 16; Now showing

You can do as you like with the Nazis in movieland. If ever bad guys are needed to raid lost arks or give Captain America a reason for being, the Third Reich is on hand as a versatile villain for whatever you’re having yourself.

Thus, no one really bats an eyelid when spaceships (Iron Sky) or, in the case of this ravishing action-horror from producer JJ Abrams, zombies are plonked in reach of Herr Hitler. Overlord is no silly-season carnival, however, and under the helm of Abrams and director Julius Avery (Son Of A Gun), attention has been paid to ensure that a solid foundation is firmly in place before the braineating fun can commence.

Jovan Adepo is Boyce, a US paratrooper jumping into hell on the eve of D-Day. Under Cpl Ford (Wyatt Russell), his team must take out a radio tower in a French village ahead of the allied invasion. There, with help from Mathilde Ollivier’s local rebel, they find Pilou Asbaek’s evil Nazi boss overseeing zombie-tastic experiments on villagers.

From band of brothers to chamber of horrors, this is an oddly effective night out.