Visionary French New Wave director Jean Rollin brought true artistic power to what is superficially a disturbing horror film. However, as the film progresses, it soon becomes evident there are significant themes being explored by Rollin under the guise of terror. Collaboration, retribution, and passion are sensitively observed in this film and it's certainly much more of an existentially realistic cinema journey than the simple title would lead one to believe. At times the intensity of the horror is so overwhelming it nearly becomes unendurable. However, Rollin never allows this to go so far that obscures what he is trying to say with his film. Ultimately, the motion picture works on two important levels. One is as a creative and ingenious horror film that pushes the very limits of the genre. The second is as one of the most significant cinematic statements regarding Post-WWII France and the way French society tried to reconcile the actions of citizens during the war with the present. It is that clash between past and present that explodes across the screen in what is the strongest expression of this great director's philosophy.
Review of Zombie Lake
