Trench 11 is a 2017
Direct-to-DVD Canadian-produced horror film set in the final days of
World War I. British Intelligence has discovered a massive underground complex built behind the German lines in the Argonne Forest. When the American offensive cleared the forest, German troops abandoned and sealed the facility, but failed to destroy it. It is believed this may be the base of operations of Reiner, an infamous weapons scientist responsible for weaponizing
chlorine and phosgene. A detachment of American soldiers led by British intelligence officers Major Jennings and Doctor Priest, accompanied by Canadian tunneling expert, Lieutenant Abraham Berton are sent in to secure the facility. Meanwhile, across No Man's Land, the German Army is not comfortable with letting the secrets within fall into Allied hands.
Provides examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Berton. He's first pulled from a bar by military police, his Love Interest wishes he didn't drink as much, and he carries a flask with him into the tunnels.
- Ate His Gun: A German survivor, under gunpoint, begs the Americans not to tear down the barricade sealing the bunker. When they continue under orders, he shoves the shotgun of the man holding him prisoner into his mouth and the soldier kills him.
- Americans Are Cowboys: The American captain dual-wields a pair of Colt 1911s like an Old West Gunslinger.
- Bayonet Ya: One American soldier carries a Winchester Model 1897 trench gun with a long bayonet.
- The Cavalry: Jennings assures the men an engineering corps is aware of them and will send rescue parties once they fail to check in. Berton knows he is lying.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Priest is subject to this by Reiner in order to gain intelligence against the Allies.
- Chainsaw-Grip BFG: A German blasts away the infected with an MG08/18 from the hip.
- Deadly Gas: Chlorine is released into the tunnels and Berton and Meuller have to run for it, as they have no gasmasks.
- Eagle Land: The Yanks think they can win the war singlehandedly after taking more ground in a month than the British did in three years.
- Enemy Mine: The Germans lost their tunneling expert while fighting their way back into the base and are forced to put Berton and the other Americans to work in detonating the explosives.
- Exploring the Evil Lair: The Allies send men to investigate what is believed to be Reiner's headquarters.
- Fatal Family Photo: Meuller looks at pictures of his wife and daughter before setting off the bomb he is sitting next to.
- Faux Affably Evil: Reiner tries to cozy-up to Priest, offering him wine and appealing to him not as an enemy, but a fellow scientist. When he refuses to betray the Allies, he resorts to torture.
- Fiery Cover-Up: The Germans attempted to destroy the facility but the main charge failed to detonate. Berton discovers the bombs are intact but deliberately not detonated. Implied to be sabotaged by Reiner.
- Gas Mask, Longcoat: The German soldiers sent in to clear the facility are first seen wearing this combo. Appropriate, since both were invented for the trenches of World War I.
- Glory Hound: Jennings spent the war riding a desk and sees this operation as possibly his last opportunity for promotion before the war ends.
- Giant Mook: The German heavy machine gunner covered in plate armor.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Meuller stays behind to detonate the bomb and destroy the bunker after the timer is broken.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: Mad Scientist Reiner is a proto-Nazi, complaining that if Germany loses the war Europe will be overrun by Communist Jews and willing to destroy the world with his parasites in the belief that a united Germany will be strong enough to survive.
- Plague Zombie: The infection spreads through bodily fluids, blood and saliva.
- Parasite Zombie: The place is overrun by German soldiers infested with worm colonies that turn the infected into a mindless raging murderer.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Berton after surviving the tunnel collapse.
- Sociopathic Soldier: Sergeant Pronger is a large, brutal man from Gangster Land with an addiction to cocaine.
- Sissy Villain: Reiner wears a very feminine silk scarf.
- Tag Line: "Violence is contagious"
- Technically-Living Zombie: The infected can be killed by the same means as normal men and the dead do not rise.
- Trapped-with-Monster Plot: An early grenade explosion destroys the entrance and forces the men to find an exit tunnel while the infected roam the halls.
- Tunnel King: Berton. He was caught in a tunnel collapse and left for dead but dug his way out days later. British intelligence calls on his expertise to lead the expedition.
- War Is Hell: Berton and Mueller briefly discuss whether they should just let the parasite escape and overrun the allies after all the atrocities both sides have committed.
- Your Head A-Splode: The German who takes a point blank shotgun blast to the head.
- Zombie Apocalypse: Reiner's plan is to find the mustering point for the next Allied offensive and release the infection. When it's pointed out that it will spread from nation to nation regardless of political affiliation, he isn't put off, saying that the strong should emerge victorious from this crucible as it engulfs Europe.
- Zombie Infectee: Kelly is attacked by one of the infected and covered in slobber. He grows weaker as time goes on before turning and attacking his friends.
