Shock Waves
Shock Waves DVD (Ken Wiederhorn, Blue Underground 1977)
With the recent likes of ‘Outpost’ and ‘Dead Snow’ doing brisk businesses in the rental and sell-through markets, it seems as if Nazi zombie movies are a sub-genre all of their own these days. ‘Shock Waves’ is probably one of the main reasons why – this fun, crusty B-movie may not have been the very first (it was pipped by 1966’s ‘The Frozen Dead’), but it remains one of the very best. After evading a decrepit freighter that appears out of the darkness of the night, a pleasure cruiser accidentally strikes a reef and begins to take on water. The crew and passengers abandon ship and make their way over to a lush island where they discover ageing Nazi Peter Cushing living in an abandoned mansion. Cushing warns them that there is ‘danger here… danger in the water’ and urges them all to leave, offering them the use of a small boat. But it is too late – with their captain (John Carradine) already drowned while checking out the damage to the cruiser, the survivors are soon mourning the loss of their cook, who is found floating in a mangrove swamp. “What do you think happened to him?” one asks. “Maybe we’d better ask them,” answers another, nodding towards two figures who silently watch them from the other side of the swamp – strange, blonde-haired men with leathery skin wearing SS uniforms and what look like heavy welding goggles. Seeking answers from Cushing, the old Nazi tells them that it is now too late to escape, and that they are doomed to die at the hands of Der Toten Corp – a unit of experimental soldiers he once commanded during the last days of the war. Drawn from homicidal killers, sadists and rapists and caught somewhere between life and death, the soldiers were designed to be tireless, ageless and merciless. They were also unable to distinguish friend from foe, and Cushing scuttled their freighter and sent them to the bottom of the bay when it became apparent that the experiment was a failure and that Germany had lost the war. He has been hiding on the island ever since, but now the strange aquatic zombies are rising up from the depths in search of a reckoning… Some of the characterisation is a bit thin and the dialogue between the characters occasionally rings hollow, but what people really remember ‘Shock Waves’ for is its great location work, fantastic photography and many excellent scenes of Nazi zombies rising up out of the water or walking along rotting hulks at the bottom of the sea. One particularly jarring composition uses the horizon line of the ocean to bisect the frame, then has a group of zombies suddenly stand straight up out of what appears to be nothing but deep water. The film relies on its eerie setting and premise rather than cheap gore, so don’t go in expecting any Romero-style chow-downs, but for fans who appreciate chills along with their thrills, ‘Shock Waves’ is lots of fun. Liam Ronan
