Director: Marco Ristori, Luca Boni
Year: 2015
Country: Canada/Italy
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
Trying to find shelter for a comrade, a group of soldiers fighting in the middle of the war stumble upon a concentration camp officer hoping to spur the Nazis forward by turning the inhabitants into the living dead and must find a way to stop his nefarious plans.
Review:
This one ended up being quite the enjoyable Nazi Zombie effort. One of the more impressive elements featured here is the incredibly strong atmosphere created showing their journey through the wilderness. The opening of this one carries them through the woods trying to reach the camp that has a gloomy ambience that works nicely with the fact that this one mostly takes place inside the concentration camp which is a decided advantage. As that sense of oppression and gloom afforded by the setting leads into the action, that makes for a more realistic slant on the material at large since the zombies are given quite a more naturalistic slant here with the experimentations used to create them offers the film plenty to like. The encounters between the soldiers and the zombies are especially fun, from the first ambush in the ruins where they come shambling out of the walls in a surprise to the others when they emerge, the blazing gun-battle out in the middle of the compound where they encounter wave after wave of the creatures coming for them and the final burst where it shows the remaining soldiers and zombies battle it out in the outdoors surrounding the main camp which gives this a nice bit of thrills to go along with it’s nice graphic zombie makeup.
These here do hold it up over it’s few minor flaws, which extends mainly from the rather bland pacing here. There's not a whole lot of action that occurs throughout here as instead of getting plenty of encounters with the creatures, it tends to focus way too much on their exploits getting to the facility and trying to stay hidden that it manages to focus away from the zombie attacks for too long in such a brief effort. There's no reason for a movie like this at this length to feel dull, so that it sticks out in any way here really gives itself away. As well, the ending is way too anticlimactic as instead of being a big showdown between the two forces, it devolves into a speech about the whole purpose for it all so it definitely ends on a whimper more than expected. With all the philosophical blather that it goes into about his history and mother figures being there, this one just doesn't really offer that great of an ending. Combined with the CGI blood-spray that occurs for many of the wounds, these here hold this one down.
The cast here certainly do fine with the material given. Main soldier Will, played by Andrew Harwood Mills, comes off as a fine lead as he has the most profound character arc. Initially starting off as the stereotypical soldier afraid of being involved in the war and wanting to go home, he takes a surprisingly cliched if effective turn into the heroic soldier who goes after the Nazis. His commanding officer Sgt James Calhoun, played by Aaron Stielstra, is the typically crotchety leader who tries to keep a level head about things before it all goes wrong. It's not the wildest stretch but it's handled well enough not to be completely irritating or taxing. Among the other soldiers of note, Ally McClelland who plays Matt O'Neill comes off the best. Being the father figure of the group, he is somewhat sympathetic as he tries to instill courage in him as he goes along so it adds a nicer sensibility to the chaos in the rest of the film. Likewise, Nazi leader Mengele, Dan van Husen also casts a nice impression, being every inch the cold and heartless persona he should be as he tasks the luckless Will with his plans and mission statement. Not the greatest stretch but certainly worthwhile in any event, and everyone else doesn't really do anything to embarrass or highlight themselves.
Overview: **/5
There's not much new offered here which does make this a somewhat troubled viewing, yet it's still entertaining enough in spurts to gather interest from hardcore zombie fans. Give it a watch for that reason only, while those looking for more from their zombie films will probably be turned off by this one.
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