Director – Yusron Faudi (The Verdict, Skull)
Starring – Adhin Abdul Hakim (Hayya: The Power of Love 2, Hayya 2: Dream, Hope and Reality), Anastasia Herzigova (Lost in the Spotlight, Cyanide), and Anggi Waluyo (The Redemption of Sin, Zona Merah)
Release Date – 2023
Rating – 2.5/5
I Absolutely adore getting in international genre titles to review. Lately, I have been receiving international flicks for review but most of them have been sexploitation flicks from my friends over at Mondo Macabro and Severin Films. I really enjoy these films so please don’t get me wrong but I’m always going to be a horror fan. I love horror and really enjoy seeing what other countries have to offer.
A few weeks ago I received an email featuring two international titles for review. The first film happened to be an Indonesian zombie flick from 2023 titled The Draft. The title really peaked my interest and I decided to check that one out first. I want to thank my friends over at Shudder and Screambox for sending this one over for review!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a group of what appears to be twenty-somethings that visit an old villa that belongs to one of them. Her uncle is the caretaker of the property and begs them not to stay but they refuse to listen. They soon find themselves in trouble when one of them is murdered the first night. As they try to figure out a way to get help they uncover that they are actually living in a cliched horror movie. They must embrace the horror or succumb to the undead monsters lurking outside the villa. **Spoiler Alert**
I was very excited when I hit play on The Draft. I couldn’t wait to see what this film was all about but soon found myself face to face with a film that spent the first hour with the characters just talking. It was so fucking dull that I almost turned it off. I can’t remember the last time I almost turned a movie off before it was finished but this film had me seriously thinking about it. I hate writing a negative review for a movie sent to me but this one was tough.
The acting in this one was very well done. The characters are generic on purpose. The cast has a lot of fun getting into character which made the movie somewhat barrable during the first hour or so.
The story for this one is a fun idea that took far too long to get going. The first hour is one death followed by way too much dialogue. We have zero action before the last leg of the film. With that being said, that last leg is fantastic. It almost saves the film. It’s clever, action packed, and has some laughs. If the whole film was able to hold that consistency then it would have been unforgettable.
Finally, the film has some practical effects. We have some zombie make-up that looks fairly well done along with some other make-up effects. They all look good enough but nothing that stands out to the viewer. Overall, The Draft is such a wasted idea. I love the story but the way in which it unfolds is extremely boring. I wanted to like this one, and the last 30 minutes almost won me over, but that first hour ruins the experience. This is one I’d recommend skipping.
