War of the Dead

This movie does everything a B-movie needs to do, to get your attention. It's pretty trashy, it's pretty out there (who cares about historical accuracy anyway, right? ;o) ) and it does have some extreme ideas and still some decent acting (all judged by the limitations of budget of course, don't compare it to a blockbuster). If that sounds intriguing to you, than do not mind the silly name of the movie (though maybe the silly name prepares you somewhat), but do watch the movie and just enjoy it as it is meant to be.

Having said that, if you can't fathom the idea of mistakes, ridiculous behaviour, OTT acting or OTT special effects at times, plus some explicit scenes of violence, than you might want to stay clear of this. It is not a great movie by any sense, but it will entertain you, if you let it.

A platoon of British, American and Finnish soldiers come head to head with unstoppable zombie-like soldiers. Aided by a Russian grunt they must fight for survival.

Despite some over used slow-motion and unfitting sound effects War of the Dead director Marko Mäkilaakso delivers a wonderfully atmospheric World War II action 'zombie' film.

The film has pace, moving from one location to the next through bunkers, trenches, air shafts, forests and there's plenty of gun-play and fights. The effects are modest and well executed and the sets are perfectly dressed, the location shoot gives it an edge. Writers Mäkilaakso and Barr B. Potter include some zombie hallmarks an empty house under siege, a graveyard, shots to the head but the antagonists share more with 28 Day/Weeks Later's infected and Outpost's theme. War of the Dead expands the Nazi super soldiers angel further including some fast moving, stealthy, post experimental and 'infected' soldiers.

Reminiscent of The Bunker, Death Watch, Dog Soldiers and the aforementioned to name a few this latest addition includes some great worn looking actors including Antti Reini, the reliable and talented Andrew Tiernan (who also starred in the The Bunker) as Capitan Martin Stone. UK viewers may recognise ITV's Bill - Mark Wingett. Supporting leads Samuel Vauramo as the emotional Kolya and Mikko Leppilampi as Lieutenant Laakso are effective enough. Notable is the only female Magdalena Górska and Jouko Ahola who is perfectly cast as the super soldier Captain Niemi.

It lacks that slow foreboding feel synonymous with zombie films in a bid to be original. In addition, the mix of genres doesn't work as well for this WW2 predominately action, chiller as it should due to the thin script. Nevertheless, it's a solid piece of entertainment packed with action and an obligatory nihilistic ending with a twist.

A platoon of American and Finnish soldiers is driven deep into a Russian forest where its Captain discovers a terrifying secret.

When produced in 2007, this was the most expensive film ever made in Lithuania. What does that mean? Since I do not know how many films are produced in Lithuania, and I have no idea what the budget was, it is hard to say. The budget must have been at least as much as Uwe Boll spends, though, because it looks like one of his movies.

Not that this is a bad film, but it is more action than horror. So if you like movies where guys shoot at each other for 80 minutes, you might dig this. If you would rather see horror with ghosts or chainsaws, this is not going to be your cup of tea.

Personally, I lost interest in it really quickly.

I found "War of the Dead" by sheer coincidence. I had never heard about it prior to accidentally stumbling on it. And the cover of the DVD made me pick it up and give it a go, as I do enjoy zombie movies. And zombie Nazis, well it just doesn't get any better!

Now, I will say that "War of the Dead" is unlike most other zombie movies that I have seen in my life. It has that whole "Band of Brother" / "Saving Private Ryan" feel to it, with the impressions that you are right there in the action with the soldiers. I liked that about the movie, because it is a cool thing. And taking place during World War II, but with zombies running around, well that is just an interesting concept. Sure it is used in other movies, such as "Outpost" and "Død Snø" ("Dead Snow") for example, but still it worked out quite well in "War of the Dead".

One thing did puzzle me, and that was why Americans were there helping out the Finnish soldiers. That just didn't strike me as very plausible. But hey, it is just a fictional movie. Moving on, some of the accents throughout the movie were also a bit on the less impressive side.

Effect-wise, then I found "War of the Dead" to be quite good. The movie had a heap of action with guns and explosions. But for a zombie movie, then the gore and actual mayhem caused by the zombies was a bit tame. Especially because the zombies were agile and running around, a feature in zombie movies that I am not a fan of. (Yeah, I am a Romero-zombie fan to the very core!) And also the zombies seemed to be capable of some brain activity, as they were able to do intricate fighting and blocking in brawling. And when the zombies jumped down from those tall trees, then I was ready to find something else to watch (but I didn't, I gave "War of the Dead" a fair chance). What was that all about? So now zombies climb 10-15 meters up into trees to hide and ambush those coming past? That was just too ridiculous.

The feeling of the atmosphere in the movie was really one of the better things that was working to pull the movie up. Because it was a great mixture of "Band of Brothers" but mixed with the gritty places and narrow corridors that you had in the first two original "Resident Evil" games. And that worked out so well, because it really put on a brooding sense of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I think that the people they had put in the movie in the various roles were actually doing good jobs with their roles. And it was refreshing to see a movie with no familiar faces popping up. The one who put on the most impressive and memorable performance in the movie was Samuel Vauramo (playing Kolya).

As for a zombie movie, then don't expect the classical Romero type zombies in the movie, and don't except to see a lot of gore and mayhem, and don't expect to see any real decomposition in the animated corpses either. So if you put these expectations aside, then "War of the Dead" is actually a good, wholesome entertaining movie from Finnish director Marko Mäkilaakso.

I read the reviews after I'd picked this up and held little hope for it, Apart from the Dead Snow films I find Nazi Zombie flicks usually leave a lot to be desired (Still get suckered in by them tho').

There have been lots of 'Not historically Accurate' on here...But it's a Zombie film....erm...Last time I checked Zombies are fictional...

It held my attention (not always easy) and on as a pure 'Popcorn' film It's rather fun. If you want an hour and a half of undemanding entertainment it's worth a shot.

The audio (Dialogue) was low...I put subtitles on to make sure I didn't miss anything (Not that the Dialogue told you anything!) The film looks great colour wise too.