Storming the Station
When communications are lost with a command station over looking a Columbian moor, a group of soldiers are sent in to find out what has gone on as the area is known for guerrilla activity. One of the soldiers, Arango (Andres Torres), is desperate to find out what happened as his brother was stationed there which makes him a danger to the other soldiers as his actions put them at risk. But that is nothing compared to what they discover in the station when they storm it as whilst there are signs of a struggle it is completely empty except for one woman who they discover chained up. But as they try to rationalize what they find they must work out whether this woman is an innocent victim or a witch behind the carnage they find.
"The Squad" is the sort of movie which you have to really be in the right mood for as whilst some movies can nudge you in to being in the right mood this isn't one of them. Nope this is a movie which right from the word go demands your undivided attention and not because it is complex but it wants you to focus so intensely on what is going on that you are hooked on the atmosphere and mystery which is created as these soldiers make their way into a command station unsure of what they will discover.
Unfortunately I wasn't in the right mood before watching "The Squad", not that I knew this, and after a while my concentration on what was going on started to drift, although the issue may not be with me but the movie itself because there is something relentlessly dreary about it. There are scene of drama and we see sticky blood on the floor suggesting of something sinister having gone on before these men arrived but what we get a lot of is one over the shoulder shot after another and you find yourself longing for a bit more visual variety as well as colour as the same dreary colours fill the movie.
The thing is that whilst "The Squad" ended up struggling to maintain my interest I can see how for some the bleak intensity of it all and that heavy aspect of mystery will impress. Whilst neither pretentious or independent I would say that "The Squad" has more chance of appealing to those who enjoy independent cinema rather than those seeking horror entertainment especially as the emphasis is more on the mystery and atmosphere than the blood and frights.
What this all boils down to is that "The Squad" didn't do it for me as whilst it grabbed my attention to start with it then struggled to keep it. But with an independent, medium budget feel to it I can see how it could appeal to those who prefer their movies to be less mainstream.
