Alle må dø (All Must Die)
Snurr Film AS
Director Geir Greni's film Alle må dø (All Must Die) has all the potential to be a fantastic low-budget, feministic subversion in the horror-slasher genre. However, the final product is an ultra low-grade and flat, uninspiring vision that does little to refresh the genre and instead, reinforces tiresome stereotypes and convention.
It is clear from the first few frames that director Geir Greni is working on an almost non-existent budget – and even that is a slight understatement. Throughout Alle må dø, the aesthetic is a similar quality not too distant of a home feature and while conceptually the possibility of this element could reinforce the tension and atmosphere similar to that of 28 Days Later, the conviction is far from Boyle's feature and ultimately hampers the experience by evoking an amateurish touch.
Poor green screen aside, even when the sequences of horror are let loose, each moment drowns in ineffective intensity and flat atmosphere. The cinematography from Torstein Nodland is lifeless and dire with an equally as stiff and unadventurous edit from Rodrigo Stoicheff that fails to kick some life into this flat feature.
The performances are not much to boast about either. Granted, the film almost exclusively utilises an all-female cast, of which is one of few highlights the film boasts. However, the lack of charisma, character or even personality types in the screenplay from writer-director Greni and co-writer Robert Næss fails each and every character that ultimately descends into over-sexualisation and one-note stereotypes.
The hardest aspect to digest, however, is the screenplay, of which throughout has zero energy or depth available. The murderous motives are disinteresting and poor; the comradery between the group is often stale and unbelievable. Sadly but not surprisingly, once the film recognises which dire direction it is taking, it pulls out an even more conventional and terrible ace card for Alle må dø’s final act. A twist so incredibly bland and in poor taste, it makes what is already hard work a destructive force of nature with grievous results.
