The plot of Joel M. Reed's "Night of the Zombies" concerns a group of investigators searching for the bodies of missing soldiers.They encounter a group of undead WWII soldiers who've apparently been kept alive by some chemical gas called Gamma 693 or something like that.Deadly dull and uninteresting horror film that is as dreary as they come.The action is utterly lifeless and there is not enough blood-in fact the film is pretty goreless.I can't believe that the same director directed outrageously sleazy "Bloodsucking Freaks"."Night of the Wehrmacht Zombies" is far from the worst horror movie ever made,but I was bored senseless whilst watching this low-budget atrocity.You have been warned.3 out of 10.
30 Reviews
Horribly bad movie, but at least you can laugh at it and have fun making fun of it
SusieSalmonLikeTheFish30 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This zombie movie made Hell of the Living Dead (1980) look like advanced and superb filmmaking. I mean, forget cheesy, this one is filled with terrible lines, bad acting - weird acting too in some cases - odd soundtrack, a crazy plot and bad zombie effects. Definitely deserves to be listed as one of the site's worst movies.
Buy hey, at least you can still have fun with it. I mean, don't buy it expecting to find the next Dawn of the Dead or anything, just watch it knowing it'll be bad and you can laugh at it. It's more fun if you invite your friends, order a pizza and stuff, sit back and take turns shouting insults at the characters. With bad movies like this you can always still make them really worth watching, just by having fun with them, even if they are just so awful.
Buy hey, at least you can still have fun with it. I mean, don't buy it expecting to find the next Dawn of the Dead or anything, just watch it knowing it'll be bad and you can laugh at it. It's more fun if you invite your friends, order a pizza and stuff, sit back and take turns shouting insults at the characters. With bad movies like this you can always still make them really worth watching, just by having fun with them, even if they are just so awful.
Skeletons in closet
davidnsmall17 May 2005
My late wife, Debbie Jackson, was an assistant editor on NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES. Several years later, I found it in - of all places - a supermarket. I brought it home, but for some reason, Debbie refused to watch. That always puzzled me, but I guess the memory was just too painful. Years after that, the tape disappeared from our house. I can only assume she threw it away. My only memory of the movie is a chase scene shot in Europe, with pickup shots in Greenwhich Village, in an area that sorta looks like Europe.
Debbie told me stories about meeting Jamie Gillis and how the producers were always running out of money and bringing new investors to the editing room. There was a similar movie called SHOCK WAVES, also about revived Nazi Zombies, and according to Debbie, there was some talk that their priceless idea had been ripped off. Oh well.
Debbie told me stories about meeting Jamie Gillis and how the producers were always running out of money and bringing new investors to the editing room. There was a similar movie called SHOCK WAVES, also about revived Nazi Zombies, and according to Debbie, there was some talk that their priceless idea had been ripped off. Oh well.
"What were they thinking?!"
anxietyresister16 March 2006
Imagine a movie with a completely nonsensical plot, something about zombie soldiers left over from World War II. Now slap a bit of blue make-up on someone's face and call them a member of the undead. Not convinced? You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till you experience the face melting of one of these creatures, you won't know whether to laugh or cry. Special effects? I could have done better with some crayons and a piece of paper. And how's about the out of synch sound, the outrageously fake Germans and the not entirely convincing stabbing scenes?
As you can guess, this project was probably made with the change at the back of the director's sofa. Still, it wasn't all bad.. I did catch up on some sleep the first hour it was on. Sadly, duty bound to review it I had to rewind. You should be proud of me, I lasted for all of 50 minutes before fast-forwarding the rest. From what I gather, there is a big ACTION CLIMAX near the end involving those stunningly realistic cadavers attacking a bunch of hapless humans. This is shot and acted so ineptly that it quickly becomes a comedy masterpiece. There's plenty of unintentional laughs before that, but this scene really takes the cake. My final thought when the mess was over was "What were they thinking?!" Nothing else needs to be said really.. 0/10
As you can guess, this project was probably made with the change at the back of the director's sofa. Still, it wasn't all bad.. I did catch up on some sleep the first hour it was on. Sadly, duty bound to review it I had to rewind. You should be proud of me, I lasted for all of 50 minutes before fast-forwarding the rest. From what I gather, there is a big ACTION CLIMAX near the end involving those stunningly realistic cadavers attacking a bunch of hapless humans. This is shot and acted so ineptly that it quickly becomes a comedy masterpiece. There's plenty of unintentional laughs before that, but this scene really takes the cake. My final thought when the mess was over was "What were they thinking?!" Nothing else needs to be said really.. 0/10
More fun could be had...
Nestor-421 November 2006
...by booking yourself in for an unnecessary proctological examination.
This truly is one of the worst movies it has ever been our sad duty to sit through.
The acting, direction, editing, lighting, cinematography, scoring, and pretty much everything else is among the very worst you will ever experience. If you thought that some of Jess Franco's lesser movies were painful to endure, then, to quote Jolsen "you ain't seen nothing yet" This movie has more aliases than the aforementioned Mr Franco, but whatever name is travels under, it is always appalling.
If you have truly lost the will to live, then you will want to head toward the light after watching this abortion of a movie.
This truly is one of the worst movies it has ever been our sad duty to sit through.
The acting, direction, editing, lighting, cinematography, scoring, and pretty much everything else is among the very worst you will ever experience. If you thought that some of Jess Franco's lesser movies were painful to endure, then, to quote Jolsen "you ain't seen nothing yet" This movie has more aliases than the aforementioned Mr Franco, but whatever name is travels under, it is always appalling.
If you have truly lost the will to live, then you will want to head toward the light after watching this abortion of a movie.
Not just the worst Nazi-Zombie movie... the worst movie; period!
Coventry7 July 2009
This horror movie production of very, VERY questionable quality opens rather peculiarly, with German marching music during the opening credits and a bunch of seemingly drunk actors with heavy German accents talking incomprehensible nonsense to each other. You either have to put the movie on stop straight away or accept these poor productions values immediately, because the incoherent plotting, weak dialogs and trashy incompetence go on for the rest of the movie. A handful of researchers are investigating a remote and forestry German region because, allegedly, there was held a secretive chemical warfare battle near the end of WWII and since then the place is a breeding ground for rotting Nazi zombies. Well, with more than 30 years after the end of the War, I'd say it's about time the military decided to investigate the rumors! If you manage to get the boring and inept first hour and ten minutes, during which there's absolutely not a single zombie in sight, you'll be "rewarded" with perhaps two or three zombie attack sequences, but still they'll all be scare-free and with terribly lame make-up effects.
The term "so bad it is good" doesn't even apply here anymore, as "Night of the Zombies" is a truly bottom-of-the-barrel horrible, trashy, tasteless and imbecilic Z-grade exploitation effort that cannot even remotely entertain the most hardened fans of bad cinema. Everything about the film is hideous to percept, from the characters' ugly mustaches to the nauseating Tiroler soundtrack. And just when you think it couldn't possible get any worse, writer/director Joel M. Reed comes up with a couple of the utmost retarded plot twists. Obviously there's also some random and totally gratuitous female nudity and a couple of embarrassing attempts at humor. I have honestly no idea what Joel M. Reed thought he was accomplishing here, but it's a miserable piece of junk that can't hold a candle to that other sordid little cult effort of his; entitled "Bloodsucking Freaks". I'm a big fan of that particular movie because it's so extreme and offensive, but "Night of the Zombies" is one of the most boring and pointless waste of film I ever voluntarily endured.
The term "so bad it is good" doesn't even apply here anymore, as "Night of the Zombies" is a truly bottom-of-the-barrel horrible, trashy, tasteless and imbecilic Z-grade exploitation effort that cannot even remotely entertain the most hardened fans of bad cinema. Everything about the film is hideous to percept, from the characters' ugly mustaches to the nauseating Tiroler soundtrack. And just when you think it couldn't possible get any worse, writer/director Joel M. Reed comes up with a couple of the utmost retarded plot twists. Obviously there's also some random and totally gratuitous female nudity and a couple of embarrassing attempts at humor. I have honestly no idea what Joel M. Reed thought he was accomplishing here, but it's a miserable piece of junk that can't hold a candle to that other sordid little cult effort of his; entitled "Bloodsucking Freaks". I'm a big fan of that particular movie because it's so extreme and offensive, but "Night of the Zombies" is one of the most boring and pointless waste of film I ever voluntarily endured.
Bad.... just plain awful!!
lthseldy124 July 2001
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is just plain awful!!! First, it starts off that there are these German army men in a camp with fake accents playing cards and talking about WWII zombies. They hear machine guns and yelling in the distance and go out to venture off to find out what's making the noise. Then the zobies arive and start killing everybody and taking over the city. Then the plot really falls flat when some secret agent is hired that talks as if he's half asleep and ready to fall down every time he walks. He acts as if he's bored with the script and would rather star in a movie more exciting and to his taste than a horror movie about walking zombies with dried up paint on their faces and cheap makeup. The guy then dresses up as one of the zombies in order to find out what makes them look young and why they are still alive after WWII and after he falls asleep in one of the tents with them after a night of makepretending he wakes up and finds that there is no more gas left to make them live and they soon meet their end. This movie is BAD!!! just plain stinks!!!
Yes, this zombie movie kind of lacks everything that makes a good zombie movie.
Aaron13752 June 2009
Saw this one as a kid and remember that it was one of the most boring zombie movies I had ever seen. I also remember it being one of the first movies I had ever seen hosted by Elvira Mistress of the Dark and she did not seem to care for it all that much either. However, there is not really all that much to like about this film, it is boring for the most part, the plot at times is very laughable (dressing up like a zombie to infiltrate indeed), and there is not a lot of gore in it either. This makes the movie with the same title and several others including Virus and Hell of the Living Dead seem like a super action packed thrill ride with splendid zombie effects and a ton of gore. Hell the stock footage in that movie at times is more exciting to watch than this film as it just fails to entertain at any level. There are just so many zombie films out there that are bad, but they are at least fun to watch and not boring this one can not even say that. I do not know if I want to say this is the worst zombie movie ever, but I will say it is the worst zombie movie I have ever seen, even worse than that awful Automaton Transfusion.
and I thought I knew bad
lazyfukkkah2 June 2005
I give this film a resounding 1 out of 10 because ZERO is not an option. I am a junkie for poorly-executed cinematic catastrophes, but this film made me cringe and shudder for 90 minutes. I thought that Open Water was the worst film I had ever spent money on to watch, but after I bought a copy of Night of the Zombies II from the Better Than a Pawnshop I quickly changed my tune. This movie doesn't make any sense. A painfully obvious example of its complete nonsensical nature is its title; Night of the Zombies TWO, which does NOT happen to be the sequel to Night of the Zombies ONE. "CIA Headquarters" in "Langley" looks more like a Best Western in Gary, Indiana. There are Nazi zombies, and some bonus nudity, two less-than-adequate consolation rewards for the poor saps like myself who had to suffer through this feature. But try understanding ANYTHING that's happening in this movie, and watch your head spin.
I see this film as an instrument for building character. You will never get bored driving through Iowa or sitting through Econ 101 as long as you live if you can manage to enjoy this movie sober.
I see this film as an instrument for building character. You will never get bored driving through Iowa or sitting through Econ 101 as long as you live if you can manage to enjoy this movie sober.
"I don't want to hear anymore of this zombie drivel!"
zeppo-26 May 2006
And I so agree with the above quote from one of the characters in this film! One of the worst zombie films I've ever seen and one of the worst films of any genre when it comes to it.
This is the video version on the cheapie DVD I got and only runs 75 minutes but in this case that is a blessing it's not the full length one. It took me all my diminishing strength to struggle through the short running time, don't think I could have managed anymore. Felt quite zombiefied myself at the end...
Jamie Gillis made his name in porn films and as is fitting, his performance here is 'wooden' too. Then again, he showed little passion in the adult films I've seen him in either, easy to see why he never made it in mainstream movies.
As noted by other reviewers, the story makes little sense, and when did foam become a weapon against zombies? I must have missed that 'Zombie 101' class. The technology of film-making has improved over the years but sadly, inept filmmakers are still with us.
The actual plot is pretty good, World War 2 zombie soldiers still fighting a war long over but it's totally wasted here. It's been done so much better in the pages of 'Weird War Tales,' a comic from the 1970's from DC comics, which specialised in this sort of horror tales.
Go pick up a back issue and don't waste your money on this rubbish.
This is the video version on the cheapie DVD I got and only runs 75 minutes but in this case that is a blessing it's not the full length one. It took me all my diminishing strength to struggle through the short running time, don't think I could have managed anymore. Felt quite zombiefied myself at the end...
Jamie Gillis made his name in porn films and as is fitting, his performance here is 'wooden' too. Then again, he showed little passion in the adult films I've seen him in either, easy to see why he never made it in mainstream movies.
As noted by other reviewers, the story makes little sense, and when did foam become a weapon against zombies? I must have missed that 'Zombie 101' class. The technology of film-making has improved over the years but sadly, inept filmmakers are still with us.
The actual plot is pretty good, World War 2 zombie soldiers still fighting a war long over but it's totally wasted here. It's been done so much better in the pages of 'Weird War Tales,' a comic from the 1970's from DC comics, which specialised in this sort of horror tales.
Go pick up a back issue and don't waste your money on this rubbish.
Twists And Turns Abound In This Chiller!
bob wolf26 July 1999
A letter is discovered by a game warden investigating a double homicide in the Alps. He mails it. As it turns out the letter is from a man who has been dead for years.
Jamie Gillis, one of the porn stars spoofed in Boogie Nights, plays a sort of James Bond type who treks up into the Alps with a team of researchers and soon discovers a group of long-deceased American World War II soldiers hiding out. The soldiers have found a special fountain-of-youth chemical called Gamma 693 which enables them to live forever, but at a cost.
The film is filled with twists and turns, especially the ending which I still watch over and over.
Gillis is another porn star who has tried to go legit and probably could have as he is very talented. He decides to under-play his character and not in that annoying Roger Moore kind of way. He coolly lets everyone else yell and scream while he remains calm even in the important final scene when confronted by the soldiers and must make a choice.
The special effects aren't all that bad either. A great viewing experience.
Jamie Gillis, one of the porn stars spoofed in Boogie Nights, plays a sort of James Bond type who treks up into the Alps with a team of researchers and soon discovers a group of long-deceased American World War II soldiers hiding out. The soldiers have found a special fountain-of-youth chemical called Gamma 693 which enables them to live forever, but at a cost.
The film is filled with twists and turns, especially the ending which I still watch over and over.
Gillis is another porn star who has tried to go legit and probably could have as he is very talented. He decides to under-play his character and not in that annoying Roger Moore kind of way. He coolly lets everyone else yell and scream while he remains calm even in the important final scene when confronted by the soldiers and must make a choice.
The special effects aren't all that bad either. A great viewing experience.
Good but not great.
ExecutiveChimp22611 October 2000
This movie isn't really that bad, but when you rent an early 80s zombie movie you expect to see some gut-munching. This doesn't really have much blood at all. Director Joel M. Reed is the genius who made Bloodsucking Freaks. Jamie Gillis acts better than expected, and the story is interesting, but...
I'm glad I rented it. Wouldn't want to buy it though.
I'm glad I rented it. Wouldn't want to buy it though.
Oh. Oh, yeah. Oh, this is bad, very very VERY bad. BAD BAD BAD. Bad.
eminges8 June 2001
The worst part about a film like Night of the Zombies is that it didn't HAVE to be bad. A lot of the pieces are here for an OK little drive-in movie. Somebody got together enough money for exteriors, a trip to Europe, some fair-to-middlin' camerawork - but, boy, nothing but nothing can overcome frighteningly bad dialogue and acting straight out of Hell Itself.
You see many references in the user comments about how some so-bad-its-good film really requires being drunk with your buddies to appreciate fully. THIS is the first film I've ever seen that made me want to get comatose drunk AFTER I saw it, to get rid of the unrelenting throbbing PAIN.
You see many references in the user comments about how some so-bad-its-good film really requires being drunk with your buddies to appreciate fully. THIS is the first film I've ever seen that made me want to get comatose drunk AFTER I saw it, to get rid of the unrelenting throbbing PAIN.
Ultra-trashy Adventure!
vavuorio14 July 2006
Joel M. Reed has The Touch Of Trash! This zombie-obscurity (zombies are talking, eating normally in restaurants, smoking cigarettes...) is one of the best trashfilms I have ever seen.
Jamie Gillis is just the right guy for uncommunicative detective and the script is superb (in trash standards.)
If you say that you are a trashfan, don't miss it! No, I order you to watch it! It shines like a dirty diamond..
Fun to watch- I love it!
Reed himself has a significant role in this flick.
Zombies in a trashfilm= Poetry!
Jamie Gillis is just the right guy for uncommunicative detective and the script is superb (in trash standards.)
If you say that you are a trashfan, don't miss it! No, I order you to watch it! It shines like a dirty diamond..
Fun to watch- I love it!
Reed himself has a significant role in this flick.
Zombies in a trashfilm= Poetry!
Drivel.
Guy Chapman2 April 2002
Some films are so bad they are worth watching as comedies. This isn't. It's a complete waste of time and effort. For a more entertaining evening, try watching paint dry. Fortunately it is now rarely seen in theatres, saving you the bother of not seeing it.
I want my two hours back
agentkitty489425 October 2005
Don't even waste your time. It's not worth the effort to even remain conscious during this one. Minimal zombie footage, lousy and painfully annoying characters, terrible/not even amusing acting, lots of random stock footage for some reason. One minute they're off the coast of Europe and the next they're randomly in Africa. As for the plot, I didn't catch one. Something about a crazed, radioactive rat escaping its cage and biting some scientist guy on the neck. Scientist becomes zombie, attacks all the other scientists, whole island suddenly turns into zombies.
More people should have died a lot sooner in this one.
More people should have died a lot sooner in this one.
So Bad It Must Be Seen!
Der_Vampyr12 February 2002
This movie is so bad I hope it comes out on DVD so I can watch it for a laugh. If you think your home movies are bad watch "Night of the Zombies" and you'll think you are Alfred Hitchcock!
Without exception there is nothing redeeming about this film. The plot, script, direction and video quality are that bad.
Without exception there is nothing redeeming about this film. The plot, script, direction and video quality are that bad.
Not great. But not totally rotten, either.
I_Ailurophile26 October 2021
What is most readily striking about 'Night of the zombies' is how incredibly low-budget it is. If you want a low-grade B-movie, this is the flick for you; to read a little bit about the production history cements the impression that the viewing experience immediately imparts. Scenes filmed indoors often suffer from extremely poor lighting, to say nothing of outdoor scenes filmed at night. Given the delivery and general displays of acting we see, one could be forgiven for thinking that the cast is filled with non-professionals - friends and neighbors of filmmaker Joel M. Reed - though this isn't really the case. It's not just the actors, though - scenes at large feel plainly inauthentic in their realization, most of all when even the slightest modicum of action or violence is involved. Dialogue is at turns sloppy, halfhearted, lazy, and or unconvincing. Editing is at best questionable, tending to echo the dialogue in its deficiency. And so it goes, from one element to the next.
With that in mind, one can't claim that the filmmakers had any intention beyond mild, schlocky entertainment. Why, the movie even demonstrates self-awareness. Consider the introduction into the narrative of the token female character, discussed by two male characters: "They always bring a dumb blonde along on missions like this." "Who's 'they?'" "The movies!" (Bear in mind that this isn't the only stereotype employed, or instance of sexism.) Consider as well: what plot we get in the first half of the movie is meager, develops slowly or is otherwise less than stimulating, and could have been trimmed significantly without sacrificing any substance. Then, almost exactly at the halfway point, comes a noteworthy piece of dialogue: "Why do I have to sit here and listen to this insipid repartee? ... Let's get on with it, shall we?"
Of course, the shortcomings that moderate our enjoyment don't particularly improve. Even as more concrete eventfulness picks up, and meaningful narrative - the reveal of plot points within the last half hour is distinctly inelegant, and the story as it plays out before us becomes disjointed. But I'll say this: though modest, the makeup for the zombies isn't bad. Likewise for the contributions in wardrobe. Above all, the core idea behind 'Night of the Zombies' is actually a pretty great concept for a B-movie. I rather think that, given a more generous budget - or at least more careful consideration in the screenplay - this could have been better than average. Despite the fact that it just rather trails off (into unnecessary stock footage, no less), I rather like the ending, too. Still gravely imperfect, I think there's enough strength in the second half to somewhat compensate for the weakness of the first, and save the picture from totally sliding into the rubbish pile.
Don't get me wrong - this is far from a horror classic. On the one hand, considering the nature of the production, I think I'm being too harsh; on the other hand, in the grand scheme of things, maybe I'm not being harsh enough. Suffice to say that only B-movie fans may at all find this worth their time, and even that is debatable. Yet there was definite potential here - to which the limitations of cast, crew, and finances alike denied fruition. It's not especially good, but you could also do a lot worse: don't go out of your way to watch 'Night of the zombies,' but if you happen to chance across it, there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.
With that in mind, one can't claim that the filmmakers had any intention beyond mild, schlocky entertainment. Why, the movie even demonstrates self-awareness. Consider the introduction into the narrative of the token female character, discussed by two male characters: "They always bring a dumb blonde along on missions like this." "Who's 'they?'" "The movies!" (Bear in mind that this isn't the only stereotype employed, or instance of sexism.) Consider as well: what plot we get in the first half of the movie is meager, develops slowly or is otherwise less than stimulating, and could have been trimmed significantly without sacrificing any substance. Then, almost exactly at the halfway point, comes a noteworthy piece of dialogue: "Why do I have to sit here and listen to this insipid repartee? ... Let's get on with it, shall we?"
Of course, the shortcomings that moderate our enjoyment don't particularly improve. Even as more concrete eventfulness picks up, and meaningful narrative - the reveal of plot points within the last half hour is distinctly inelegant, and the story as it plays out before us becomes disjointed. But I'll say this: though modest, the makeup for the zombies isn't bad. Likewise for the contributions in wardrobe. Above all, the core idea behind 'Night of the Zombies' is actually a pretty great concept for a B-movie. I rather think that, given a more generous budget - or at least more careful consideration in the screenplay - this could have been better than average. Despite the fact that it just rather trails off (into unnecessary stock footage, no less), I rather like the ending, too. Still gravely imperfect, I think there's enough strength in the second half to somewhat compensate for the weakness of the first, and save the picture from totally sliding into the rubbish pile.
Don't get me wrong - this is far from a horror classic. On the one hand, considering the nature of the production, I think I'm being too harsh; on the other hand, in the grand scheme of things, maybe I'm not being harsh enough. Suffice to say that only B-movie fans may at all find this worth their time, and even that is debatable. Yet there was definite potential here - to which the limitations of cast, crew, and finances alike denied fruition. It's not especially good, but you could also do a lot worse: don't go out of your way to watch 'Night of the zombies,' but if you happen to chance across it, there are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.
The worst post-Nazi film since "They Saved Hitler's Brain".
mark.waltz20 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Horrendously written and, believe it or not, even more outrageously acted and directed. It's so painfully boring and pointless that 40 years later, you have to wonder how this even got approved by people who gave up their money to see it made. It's a ridiculous horror/sci fi about scientists who discovers soldiers from World War II who were turned into zombies and are now involved in a plot for world domination. Too bad this isn't even unintentionally funny for mockery. Takes forever to get its plot developed, and by then, smart viewers will have moved on. I wouldn't even insult bad actors by calling this badly acted. Even the non-zombies are played as if they were zombies.
I've seen some bad zombie movies but this is probably the worst
Stevieboy66630 July 2020
This is one of those horror movies that has been released under several different titles and with different running times. I watched it as The Chilling which clocked in at a short 75 minutes - only those 75 minutes felt so much longer. Incredibly poor film, there is nothing good about it, the highlight for me was a laughable "special" effect of a zombie turning into a plastic skeleton! The acting is as amateur as it gets, our dull as dishwater "hero" just mumbles his way through a cringe worthy script, the picture quality and sound are awful, the zombie make-up is very poor and I pretty much gave up trying to make sense of the ludicrous plot. Director Joel M. Reed may deserve cult status for his Blood Sucking Freaks but this is just an abomination.
Huh?
Noxin23 December 1998
I don't get it. There's no logic what so ever in this movie. Sometimes the zombies are the same kind as in "The night of the living dead", sometimes they behave just like normal people and once they appear as skeletons.
The 'hero' of the movie is trapped by zombies claiming they're gonna kill him !CUT! the 'hero' has gotten away. No explanation what so ever on how he did just that. Unbelievable.
The 'hero' of the movie is trapped by zombies claiming they're gonna kill him !CUT! the 'hero' has gotten away. No explanation what so ever on how he did just that. Unbelievable.
6/10 -- NOT BAD, BUT FAR FROM GREAT.
Analog_Devotee28 April 2021
Too boring.
Overtheredskies9 December 2019
Well, At Least It's Not As Bad as Franco's Oasis
Michael_Elliott15 August 2015
Night of the Zombies (1981)
* (out of 4)
Nick Monroe (Jamie Gillis) leads up a team of investigators who are looking for some missing soldiers. They end up finding a group of WWII zombies that were apparently brought back by a deadly gas and soon the team are fighting for their lives.
This here was director Joel M. Reed's follow-up to BLOODSUCKING FREAKS and it seems as if the director wanted to get as far away from that film's subject matter as he could. The film shares some similarities with THE FROZEN DEAD but if you're expecting any type of blood, gore, violence or shock matter then you're going to be mighty disappointed. In fact, this falls well below other zombie-war films from this period like SHOCK WAVES and ZOMBIE LAKE but it was still slightly better than Jess Franco's OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES.
There are all sorts of problems with this film but it's obvious that they weren't working with too much money. I say this because the zombies don't even turn up until the forty minute mark and when they do show up their make-up is less than stellar. The make-up might have been okay in the early 70s but after the work of Tom Savini and what was being seen in the Italian horror market, what's here is just lame. There's also not any gore to be found and in fact the one major attack sequence happens in a long shot so that you can't see anything! The performances are pretty much what you'd expect and nearly every scene appears to be shot on the same set. The lighting is extremely dark as I'm guessing this was done to hide how cheap everything was. The only thing that keeps NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES from being a complete bomb is the fact that, somehow, director Reed manages to build up a rather strange atmosphere. Yes, that same low-budget and nasty atmosphere that he brought to BLOODSUCKING FREAKS can also be found here.
NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES has pretty much been forgotten through time, although it never really got a good release anywhere. It's been listed under at least six different titles but without the shock value of Reed's previous film there's really no point in searching it out.
* (out of 4)
Nick Monroe (Jamie Gillis) leads up a team of investigators who are looking for some missing soldiers. They end up finding a group of WWII zombies that were apparently brought back by a deadly gas and soon the team are fighting for their lives.
This here was director Joel M. Reed's follow-up to BLOODSUCKING FREAKS and it seems as if the director wanted to get as far away from that film's subject matter as he could. The film shares some similarities with THE FROZEN DEAD but if you're expecting any type of blood, gore, violence or shock matter then you're going to be mighty disappointed. In fact, this falls well below other zombie-war films from this period like SHOCK WAVES and ZOMBIE LAKE but it was still slightly better than Jess Franco's OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES.
There are all sorts of problems with this film but it's obvious that they weren't working with too much money. I say this because the zombies don't even turn up until the forty minute mark and when they do show up their make-up is less than stellar. The make-up might have been okay in the early 70s but after the work of Tom Savini and what was being seen in the Italian horror market, what's here is just lame. There's also not any gore to be found and in fact the one major attack sequence happens in a long shot so that you can't see anything! The performances are pretty much what you'd expect and nearly every scene appears to be shot on the same set. The lighting is extremely dark as I'm guessing this was done to hide how cheap everything was. The only thing that keeps NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES from being a complete bomb is the fact that, somehow, director Reed manages to build up a rather strange atmosphere. Yes, that same low-budget and nasty atmosphere that he brought to BLOODSUCKING FREAKS can also be found here.
NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES has pretty much been forgotten through time, although it never really got a good release anywhere. It's been listed under at least six different titles but without the shock value of Reed's previous film there's really no point in searching it out.
Having you got nice... no, don't turn around...
brendane8 February 2006
I believe much ill words have been spoken of this film but it is not that bad. Jamie Gillis is a believable actor with a unique, low-key style. He is cast well in this I think as the gum shoe investigating zombie crimes. It picks up the debate about zombies well too; do they exist or not? And also addresses key questions about modern (well, 1980's) views of the American role in World War II.
The zombie scenes are shot quite well considering the budget and Dr Clarence Trout (no relation!) is the perfect villain.
I'm not sure if I understood the story line about the foam however? What does Jamie learn from pretending to be a zombie and who discovered the power of foam? A good watch nonetheless. Has Jamie Gillis been in any other good films?
The zombie scenes are shot quite well considering the budget and Dr Clarence Trout (no relation!) is the perfect villain.
I'm not sure if I understood the story line about the foam however? What does Jamie learn from pretending to be a zombie and who discovered the power of foam? A good watch nonetheless. Has Jamie Gillis been in any other good films?
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