Movie Review: The Killing Box (1993)

Synopsis: After more than two years at the front lines of the American Civil War, Union Captain John Harling is looking forward to being discharged and allowed to go home. However, his discharge is put on hold, and he is instead ordered to track a group of Confederate soldiers that were believed to be dead but are now causing death and destruction. Harling enlists the help of the soldiers' former commander, Col. Nehemiah Strayn, now a prisoner of war and learn, with the assistance of a mute but clairvoyant runaway slave, the men they are chasing have been brought back from the dead by an evil African entity brought to the United States by a slave trader.

The movie also goes by the names Ghost Brigade, The Lost Brigade and Grey Knight.

Who's in it? The movie stars Corbin Bernsen, Adrian Pasdar, Ray Wise, Cynda Williams, Martin Sheen and Billy Bob Thornton.

Review: The Killing Box had been in my library for some time and, after canceling previous plans to watch it, I finally gave it a try this morning. Unfortunately, while the film's premise had potential, the movie just doesn't live up to it.

My biggest problem with this movie is it is kind of dull. There's an army of undead soldiers that are virtually unstoppable but the havoc they cause is surprisingly minimal because they only attack in spurts and then spend a good chunk of the movie not doing anything at all. I was honestly starting to wonder if the undead army's commander, Maj. Josiah Elkins (Roger Wilson) was even committed to his cause.

Let's put it this way, Strayn and company had plenty of time to figure out who was behind the attacks, learn they were facing an undead hoard, learn how the curse got to America and even how to kill the infected soldiers before they even came face-to-face with Elkins and his men. Then, rather than simply charging and slaughtering the union soldiers that were hunting them, Elkins gave them plenty of time to prepare for the attack.

I thought the final battle was OK and had a few interesting surprises, but it also felt as though it was too little, too late and would have been considerably better had it be a second battle, with the first at least creating the impression the undead soldiers couldn't be stopped. As it was, thanks to all the inside information that was provided prior to the fight as well as more than enough prep time, there wasn't really any point where it felt as though the undead army would win. 

In other words, the film just never built any suspense and without suspense or a feeling of hopelessness, movies in this genre just aren't that memorable.

Final Opinion: The potential was there but the filmmakers dropped the ball by making things a bit too easy on the protagonists and having much more social commentary about slavery than action.

My Grade: D

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Here are some reviews of other movies that take place during the American Civil War:

Movie Review: The Red Badge of Courage (1951)

Movie Review: Two Flags West (1950)

Movie Review: Foxhole (2021)