Frankenstein's Army

First and foremost, I rated this a 7/10 for creature design alone! They are truly unique and remarkable, even if the movie itself falls short. The acting is sub-par and there is no real character development at all. Some of the characters were so disgustingly horrible that I was begging for them to be taken out by the zombots immediately and all but cheered the moment they were.

If you want to see some fantastic creature design, give this movie a try. My husband and I paused the movie several times just to take in the whole creature design aspect. It is entertaining enough from start to finish to warrant a viewing. It's not really thought provoking, but if you are looking for some mindless fun then give this flick a go!

Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

This film comes from a very great starting point -- the idea that Nazis would use mad scientists to do terrible experiments on cadavers. That much is more or less true. Then, to make it horror and not just history, you add in the journal of Dr. Frankenstein. That is a purely genius decision. Even more bonus points for putting the story from the Russian point of view (the group that actually reached Germany) rather than the American, as would be more common.

The creature design deserves top marks. If this was eligible for a costume Oscar, I think it would be a shoo-in. The creatures are some of the most incredible I have ever seen. Sort of like a steampunk Castle Wolfenstein (which seems to have clearly been an inspiration, with this coming across much like a first-person shooter). The overall set design is pretty great, too.

In fact, my whole positive rating revolves around the design aspect, because I would be much more comfortable panning it based on the aspects I greatly disliked. All of these things revolve around the camera -- why was it shot hand-held when it would look better shot normally? How plausible is it that a Russian army team would be filming? Did cameras at that time film that well and not need changing every five minutes? How does the camera -- and its operator -- take such a beating?

So basically, if they had replaced the point-of-view camera with a traditional camera, and scrapped the Blair Witch-meets-Wolfenstein video game thing they had going on, this could have been one of the better horror films out there today. Coming from Dark Sky, a company I love, I am disappointed it did not pass muster.

And, despite the positive rating, I cannot truly recommend it. You really have to see the design, but I would rather not say you have to see the film. Better Nazi horror films exist (from "Shock Waves" to "Dead Snow"). I do look forward to whatever these creature designers do next, though.

One in a wave of Nazi zombie films to come out in the past decade, FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY is a deliriously insane slice of B-movie film-making. The plot is as simple as anything, but what this Czech film lacks in intricacy and subtlety it more than makes up for with its sheer visual inventiveness.

This is another 'found footage' movie which follows a squad of Russian soldiers trekking through east Germany in the dying days of WW2. They soon come across a seemingly abandoned complex which turns out to house a mad scientist and some decidedly odd creations. The zombies in this film are some of the most creative ever put on film, and the camera-work and music make them into fearsome creations.

The acting is nothing to write home about, aside from another solid turn from stock bad guy Karel Roden (HELLBOY), but the technical values are very good. The creations are the best part of it, of course, but this is also an extremely gory film in which the blood and body parts flow freely. It sure as hell isn't high art, but it is viciously entertaining and thoroughly engrossing for what it is.

The only difference between this found footage film and footage that may have actually been taken by a real Russian soldier is that the real Russian soldier probably would have been able to hold the camera without shaking it and would have kept it in focus.

Enough of this found footage technique. If it brings nothing to the storyline, then it's not worth the pain of watching it. To me the filming technique was overbearing and outweighed anything the movie might have been. It is just annoying to watch. And again there is zero character depth or development, partly due to the filming technique.

Alright, the monsters are great, good enough to rate all the five stars. If you want to see good monsters, then watch it. The acting is dodgy, the plot minimal, and you just won't care who gets gored because again there is no depth to the characters. If you're plain tired of found footage, give this one a pass.

Okay...

The only reason I watched this movie was because of the recent cover of Fangoria and the article intrigued me. I gave this movie a 7/10 because the POV / found footage concept was far from having the realistic feel to it and the acting was only so-so. BUT! The zombots were pretty frickin' awesome, minus the walking Nazi yoga ball, the female zombot who reminded me of the Oola from Return of the Jedi and the Robo Cop looking one. The gore aspect was very well done, but I'm up in the air on if I will be adding this to my DVD collection down the road. I'll have to watch it again to see how I feel about it the 2nd time around. But that's just me personally.