Blood and Gold ★★★

KEEP an eye out for German director Peter Thorwarth.

I haven’t seen any of his early films but 2021’s Bloody Red Sky was an exciting blend of horror, action and thriller pitting plane hijackers and a vampire.

In his 2023 film Blood and Gold, Thorwarth opts for a bloody revenge tale set in his native country at the tail end of World War II.

Former stuntman Robert Maaser plays the lead role of Heinrich, a decorated soldier who has grown tired of death and orders.

He is caught trying to desert and left to hang from a tree. He is rescued by Elsa, who brings him to her farm home that she shares with her brother Paule.

In the nearby village, a renegade group of SS arrive in search of a rumoured stash of stolen gold.

The trio and the Germans eventually clash in a series of Tarantino-esque encounters featuring some inventively staged violence and occasional black humour.

It’s good fun, if very derivative, but how many times can a guy dodge bullets without getting a scratch?