Months after bloody combats leave behind thousands of dead in the trenches. Jan Lozano, Captain of the Fifth Brigade has fallen prisoner by an opponent's platoon along with a young driver wh... Read allMonths after bloody combats leave behind thousands of dead in the trenches. Jan Lozano, Captain of the Fifth Brigade has fallen prisoner by an opponent's platoon along with a young driver while carrying out a mission that has been entrusted to him. The possibility of dying execut... Read allMonths after bloody combats leave behind thousands of dead in the trenches. Jan Lozano, Captain of the Fifth Brigade has fallen prisoner by an opponent's platoon along with a young driver while carrying out a mission that has been entrusted to him. The possibility of dying executed will soon be overtaken when a new unknown enemy arises. Both rival sides must unite and... Read all
- Awards
- 4 nominations total
- Montoya
- (as José Pérez Ocaña)
Featured reviews
Well, it should have been one of those 2 star movies, where everyone says we've had a million zombie movies, and this is just another, but....this was an absolute riot, definitely worth the wait, it seemed at one stage that it would never hit our screens, but I'm so glad it has.
The first thing you'll notice, the fantastic production values, a lot of time and money has gone into this, it looks incredible. It has a strain of humour, and some decent spills and thrills.
Don't just assume that this is yet another zombie movie, this really does have something to offer. The story is pretty wild, bit this really was ninety minutes of zombie entertainment.
8/10.
While there are certainly some plot holes, and some fairly implausible situations, without thinking too hard about such things makes this quite an enjoyable watch. As with most of my reviews, I won't comment on the plot, as the summary takes care of that. What I will comment on is the film itself. Short and sweet.
A Spanish film (ie from Spain), the production value is pretty top notch. The acting was good, the camera work was technically well above average (and professional), and fabulous scenery in some lesser known areas of Spain - beautiful panoramas, lush green forests, and an overall treat for the eyes.
Re: content Just like any zombie movie, there is a ton of bloodshed delivered via gunshots to the head. There are several bloody "bites" throughout the film, as well as severed limbs and death, literally everywhere. What the film is NOT, is gory. While I love zombie movies with excessive gore, this was not one of them. Lesser "experienced" viewers might consider some scenes to be gory, but if you're watching this solely for the gore, it likely won't measure up. That said, there was just enough to keep things interesting without being gratuitously nasty - a little bit of a bummer, but not so much that made viewing less enjoyable.
Lots of profanity, in Spanish, some issues re: racial equality, and no nudity.
One aspect that some might overlook is that there is a red thread of dark comedy from start to finish. All examples are very subtle and mostly tongue in cheek, not to mention "dead pan." I LOVED this aspect, even as a non-Spanish speaker. The writing in combination with the acting made me laugh out loud a couple of times. I truly appreciated this aspect of subtlety.
All in all, it's a fun watch! Nothing ground breaking or terribly new for the genre, but adventure, horror, and zombie fans should get a good kick out of it. By the end of the film I was shocked at how quickly 1 hour & 40 minutes went. That's always a good sign to me.
Definitely worth a watch, especially if you're a fan of the genres I mentioned above!
Some things could have been done better, but not sure with this budget though.
Dialogues are well written, acting is enjoyable. Interesting characters, easy to remember. It's almost a dark comedy but carefuly done so it never really goes into a real comedy or parody. It just makes it light-hearted enough, like there is a bit of Belini/Felini influence there. Definitely worth a watch, especially if you are tired of same old hollywood zombie movies. Oh and if you are tired of partisan/nationalists post-war tension going into the 21st century, you will find this movie quite enjoyable, like a third "possible" outcome of the war. Cute.
Did you know
- TriviaWilhelm scream: at the 1:22:02 mark.
- GoofsDuring the scene in the safehouse, the radio plays My Prayer by The Ink Spots. The song was released on 18th September, 1939, five months after the end of the Spanish Civil War.
- Crazy creditsThere is a brief mid-credit scene.
- ConnectionsReferences Zombie : Le Crépuscule des morts-vivants (1978)
- How long is Valley of the Dead?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $1,133,841
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1