Alan Ritchson's WWII Thriller Is Perfect for Fans of Horror and War Movies

There is no denying that Alan Ritchson has played a key role in shaping the “military action” landscape in the past few years. He’s the title tough guy in Reacher, a former U.S. Army Military Police major who leans on his service training and loyal military buddies to take down bad guys. In Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, he played Anders Lassen, the Danish war hero and only non-Commonwealth recipient of the Victoria Cross, key to the off-the-books Operation Postmaster raid on the Nazis’ U-boat resupply line.

Long before either role, though, Ritchson starred in another World War II picture: 2020’s Ghosts of War, tailor-made for horror and war fans alike.

Members of an Airborne Infantry Face a Different Kind of Threat in ‘Ghosts of War’

Ghosts of War was directed by Eric Bress, whose flair for terror and innovative cinematography show up in many of his movies, but seldom more than here. The war flick plunges us straight into the bubbling cauldron of the Allied campaign across France during World War II.

Five American troopers of the 82nd Airborne Division — Private Butchie (Alan Ritchson), Lieutenant Chris (Brenton Thwaites), Corporal Eugene (Skylar Astin), and Private Kirk (Theo Rossi), and Private Tappert (Kyle Gallner) – have been tasked with guarding a French château previously occupied by Nazi forces. Once they arrive, they encounter strange phenomena, including eerie noises and visions of the Helwig family, the previous occupants of the house who were massacred by the Nazis for sheltering Jews.

The troopers soon find a journal detailing the Helwigs’ fate, and the haunting only escalates from there. They attempt to leave, only to find themselves trapped in a time loop, reliving their arrival at the château and all the horrors they’ve experienced so far. Quick thinking is required, and after going through several ideas, the troopers conclude that giving the Helwigs a proper burial will calm the supernatural forces.

End of movie? Not even close. What follows is one of the craziest horror-war movie twists in recent memory, one that upends nearly everything you thought you knew about the château, the Helwigs, and the troopers themselves. So why did the movie have a World War II setting? Why did it even show Nazis at the beginning? We’ll let you find out.

‘Ghosts of War’ Utilizes the Best Narrative Elements of the Horror and War Genres

The best horror movies tend to be those where the villain (or villains) appear too powerful (or too strategic) to beat. For the most part, the heroes are helpless, frantically finding ways to survive rather than confronting the threat head-on. From Saw to The Thing, the examples are endless.

Such a narrative structure is heavily used in Ghosts of War. Here, the troopers have no clue how to deal with the supernatural forces in the château. When the violence begins, frenzied spells of Tarantino-style gory excess come in quickly and fiercely, interspersed with gallant, almost outrageous, eruptions of panic-driven action. Their weapons are useless, and their escape attempts prove pointless because they are trapped in a time loop. They are thus left with no option but to hope for the best. This kind of awesomeness was to be expected, considering director Eric Bress made two Final Destination movies.

The best war movies are also those where the servicemen endure plenty of suffering, not those where they have an easy time against the enemy. These films showcase war, not as a facile boys’ day out in which few get hurt, but as a real representation of the physical and psychological burden. Picture Full Metal Jacket, where the men undergo a torturous stint at a boot camp, then they are obliterated by a mysterious sniper when they head to Vietnam. Or picture Lone Survivor, where seemingly capable SEALs are annihilated by Afghan fighters, leaving only one person standing in the end.

In Ghosts of War, the troopers take plenty of punishment. Being stuck in a haunted house proves traumatic. Even worse, the spirits try to attack and kill them, mirroring the very methods used against the victims whose story haunts the château. It isn’t until the final moments of the movie that respite truly comes, and even then, it’s hinted that another threat looms in the shadows.

‘Ghosts of War’ Came Out at the Worst Time

Alan Ritchson in Ghosts of War
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Ghosts of War is the kind of film that ought to have pushed its stars to greater Hollywood Heights. Unfortunately, it was released at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hence, very few people ever knew about it. After a brief stint in theaters (where it only grossed $345,289), it was released on DirecTV. But unlike many comparable pandemic-era horror flicks, this is genuinely frightening and, most of the time, astonishing in its uncompromising savagery.

At the time of its release, Alan Ritchson hadn’t become a major star yet. Even though he had starred in hit shows like Blue Mountain State, Black Mirror, Smallville, and Titans, Hollywood still saw him as a supporting player. His presence in the movie thus couldn’t help push the financial figures in any way.

If Ghosts of War was released today, it would arguably perform better, not only because the current theater climate is very conducive to success, but also because Alan Ritchson has become one of the world’s most in-demand actors. The movie is undeniably worth watching today.