⭐️⭐️1/2
As the Second World War drew to a close, a unit of the American military specializing in chemical warfare were tracking an SS unit in the Bavarian Alps. Both units vanished and were declared MIA. Thirty years later a group of American investigators are attempting to find the remains of their deceased comrades, ignoring claims of zombified soldiers in the spot where the soldiers disappeared. They don’t last all that long and the CIA takes notice. Agent Nick Monroe (Jamie Gillis) digs in and discovers that the soldiers were exposed to the Gamma 693 nerve gas which transformed them into murderous zombies! Flesh eating is mentioned but never shown. Nick meets up with a scientist (Dr. Proud) who doesn’t look his age and Proud’s niece who is… uh… blonde and you’ll be spending a bunch of time with this trio as they walk around, talk in pubs and have meals. Jamie Gillis seems to really want to be Elliott Gould and he actually pulls it off in the most boring way possible. This matches the lethargic pace of the film perfectly. That’s synergy! A very large man gets a knife to his very large belly and after much chatting, Nick and the family duo make it to the base where the investigators plot thread was snipped. Greasepaint zombies show up in army uniforms but Dr. Proud dismisses the idea of the walking dead. One corpse comes back to snatch up the blonde but before it can plunge a knife in her, some awkward young guy orders him off and claims they can’t risk exposure. Dr. Proud again dismisses his niece’s claims of the undead. Chalking it up as a woman just being a woman. After much searching and I think one murder, Nick decides to infiltrate the zombie base with the application of greasepaint and access to an old Ratzi uniform. Stupidity and a deeper conspiracy follows. Joel M. Reed’s (who shows up with a German accent and offers Nick some information before taking a knife to the side) final directorial effort followed his “masterpiece” (and one of the genre’s most chaotic films) Blood Sucking Freaks and may come off just as cheap but feels nowhere near as morally corrupt. Yes, that is a negative. Confused spy thriller without the thrills and a zombie film that takes an unconventional stance on the living dead is made better by its refusal to do anything for the sake of an audience. It works at blanketing the boredom with a complete weirdo vibe that just insists on being whatever the hell it wants to be. A completely mental climax nearly saves everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment