Abbots Langley actor spawns Nazi-zombie army in horror blockbuster

An actor from Abbots Langley is starring as an evil scientist in Hollywood's new zombie blockbuster.

Erich Redman plays Dr Schmidt in Overlord, which hit the screens on Friday (November 9).

The character is a Nazi scientist, running a secret programme to turn ordinary German soldiers into ultra violent super soldiers using a specially developed formula, with disastrous consequences.

Mr Redman, who has lived in Abbots Langley since 2001, said: “My character lost his morals long ago and doesn’t care how many people die in the construction of his fighting machine.

“He doesn’t even care that the creatures he makes are hugely violent and that they will kill many innocent people.”

Mr Redman, who has starred in a number of box office hits including Saving Private Ryan, says the film was shot in a ‘pitch black’ warehouse in Leavesden.

He said: “It was an unusual eerie atmosphere, the only light you outside the set was people’s mobiles and laptops.

“On my first shooting day they were showing me these tanks of human limbs floating, loose heads laying around, and webbed cocoons hanging from the ceiling, it looked very scary.”

In a film career spanning 24 years Mr Redman has shared the screen with A-listers like Tom Hanks, and Matthew McConaughey.

He added: “It’s a bigger role than I have done before which was nice. I think I had about four or five scenes and a fair bit of dialogue so it was a bit more responsibilty.”

Overlord sees a young paratrooper dropped behind enemy lines to destroy a German radio tower. However, the target is not all what it seems, as he stumbles across the sinister lab experiment headed by Dr Schmidt.