War of the Dead

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.

the best way to describe this movie is that it's a B movie coated with A movie presentation. the special effects and the acting are the only things really holding it back from its true potential. the acting or dialogue is at times so bad and the accents so inconsistent that you wonder why the director didn't just choose to re-shoot some of the scenes and put a little more pressure on his actors. the special effects are sometimes good, but sometimes bad. this is made clear at the start of the movie when some men are gunned down in a hallway yet there is no sign of any bullet penetration or even sound effects here and there. some men just fall to the ground, we'r shown close ups of some weird nazi character grinning as he walks out of a lit-up doorway like a freaking angel or something.

the best thing about this movie is its presentation. the cinematography and camera-work is pretty 'up there'. like one of the quotes on the DVD cover states, it is 'like an episode of band of brothers with zombies'. and yeah, it is; just with much less impressive actors.

the story is unoriginal yet interesting enough to warrant your time and it looks like a lot of effort went into this little B movie. the characters all look fantastic (just like any soldier out of saving private ryan or band or brothers) and at times gunfights and explosions are convincing. its just a shame the acting and occasional iffy effects let it down.

so in summary:

presentation - 8 special makeup effects & sound - 6 acting - 5 script - 6

overall - 6/10

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.

This is a combination war story and horror film that could have been better than it was. The suspenseful and creepy atmosphere is there along with plenty of action to keep you from losing your attention. The acting was fair and perhaps it could have been better.

The story however doesn't explain or go into much detail about the secret sinister experiments that were conducted in the bunker. This I feel should have been elaborated more which would have improved the story quite a bit making it far more interesting than it was.

This is one movie that at first seems to be promising but later on lets you down with disappointment. One can only feel afterwards that this movie could have been better than it was. It had all the potential to be a 1st rate horror film.

I watched the UK premier of this title at Fright fest Scotland.

It's your basic mystery story at the start. Bad things are happening behind enemy lines. What is the cause, well with a title like War of the Dead it is easy to say its Zombies.

What I liked about this movie was that it told the same old story of dodgy dealings behind enemy lines. It does it pretty good.

The effects whilst good are below par. The movie itself looks like its a low to medium budget movie.

This is not top of the class but it is good fun for what it is.Its better than zombies of war and Armageddon of the dead.