Spezialeinheit IQ (1992)

Spezialeinheit IQ: Directed by Keith Gordon. With Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, Ethan Hawke. This WW2 psychological drama plays out at Christmas. US GIs hold an isolated cabin in the Ardennes against a handful of Germans cut off from their main force. Combat-weary and short of rations, both sides are determined to survive.

“I saw the film when it was in theatres nearly 20 years ago. As for scary films set in a snow-bound mansion, I found this to be ten times as creepy as The Shining. This is not a horror film, but certain images in the first half of the film are as horrifying as anything Iu0026#39;ve seen in film since then. I donu0026#39;t mean gore or grue. I mean ghost-story horror.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA war movie/horror film? Has anything ever been done like that? I think this film is in a genre all its own. I guess this is an anti-war film. If you wish to view it as such. It certainly does not make the viewer want to rush out and fight a war. In the cast are John McGinley and Kevin Dillon, both from the cast of u0026quot;Platoon,u0026quot; but here in significantly different roles.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI regret to say Iu0026#39;ve not been able to totally analyze and deconstruct this film. I canu0026#39;t tell you what itu0026#39;s all about, or what you should think or feel as you watch it. There is so much going on in this film. I saw it in the theatre nearly twenty years ago, and then again on cable when I taped it, about 16 years ago. I watched it again tonight. It was just as spooky and just as impressive as it was two decades ago.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI totally loved this film. My father fought in the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, very close in time and proximity to this story. His battalion, from Pennsylvania, trained at Camp Shelby (in Mississippi), just as the soldiers in this film. Some horrifying things he saw in the forties, he was only able to begin to describe a few years ago.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is such a terrific film. For so many different reasons.”