Valley of the Dead (2020) User Reviews

Competent zombie movie

[krachtm · 7/10 · 12 July 2022]

Sure, you've seen dozens, maybe hundreds, of zombie movies, but have you seen a zombie movie set during the Spanish Civil War?

The first thing you're likely to notice about this movie is that it looks competently made. Sadly, this is a rarity among horror movies on Netflix, so it's worth mentioning.

The movie is a little more lighthearted than I would have expected given the subject matter, but it never quite becomes a horror comedy. It also doesn't take strong sides on the Spanish Civil War. There are protagonists and antagonists from both sides of the conflict, and Nazis are portrayed as the true villains.

This is probably one of the better aspects of the movie. The characters spend much more time fighting zombies than ranting at each other. Quite a few arguments ended with pistols being drawn, of course, but I remember most scenes being more like civil debate than the traditional screaming matches you find in low budget zombie movies.

Unfortunately, we have to get past the tedious "that's not your father any more" and "aim for the head!" scenes before the action really starts. Once it starts, though, it's pretty good. They really, really loved their blood sprays. There are squibs exploding all over the place. Besides that, though, there weren't a large amount of really showy special effects. Gore was fairly minimal for a zombie movie.

If you don't have high expectations, and you're looking for an action movie that will pass the time, this is a good choice. The characters are likeable, the dubbing was quite good, and the movie rarely gets bogged down in exposition at the cost of action.

an interesting take on the genre

[LetsReviewThat26 · 7/10 · 12 July 2022]

Being set during the Spanish civil war a group of people from different sides must bound together to stop the dead from rising. This one of the few zombie movies I have see that actually show how it all starts which is the first good point. The cast were all fun and I felt the story was well directed. There isn't really much wrong with this film. Maybe just add more zombies but no really it was a fun watch and a film worthy of a sequel.

Much better than all of the Resident Evil movies (and the new Netflix series)

[kigaiyuuto · 7/10 · 12 July 2022]

Although that's a very low bar to clear. The movie does have game-like stages. Good writing although probably more rewarding to Spanish speakers. And also there're a few deus-ex conveniences and you can pretty much guess who'll make it to the end bar one but that one person is for the usual wokeness brigade/cancel culture.

High production value given how cheap the last RE movie that costs 20 million dollars (after tax break) looks. Although the stretching of the budget is visible now and then. And Frank Darabont won't be happy with the zombie make-up but hey who cares, the movie is fast-paced and will end before you know it. That's entertainment!

Overall it's a decent watch and all of us zombie-genre lovers can breathe easier that this is not junk.

And please avoid the new Netflix Resident Evil series. 8 hours of my life I never get back.

Valley Of The Fallen

[Pairic · 7/10 · 12 July 2022]

Valley of the Dead: Set during Spanish Civil War this is a Zombie film very much in the Z Nation style but there's enough dark stuff to make the laughs choke in your throat at times. SS members of the Condor Legion (Fighting for Franco) create zombies through experiments on the dead and dying. Naturally the experiment gets out of control. These Undead spring back into action, eating people alive before thy can turn, one charging along on his stumps like the Knight from Monty Python, there's a great shot of a Zombie horde on the skyline. Francoites link up with Republicans against the common enemy. Everything from a partisan band, to ordinary fascists, a Nun (with a big gun), a young woman called Priest Killer, atheists, communists and muslims unite to do battle with the walking dead. The squabbling between the assorted characters gets a tad tiresome at times, maybe ten minutes of this excised from the movie would have made it a better film. Still, the individual characters are interesting, especially Priest Killer and Brodsky who identifies as a Russian (he reckons he was brought to Spain as a baby). Homage is paid to Night of the Living Dead with a Zombie attack on a farmhouse and a train scene which is straight out of Train to Busan. Along with other Undead epics. A dark comedy Zombie thriller which delivers the goods. Directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera and Alberto de Toro. Written by Jaime Marques Olarreaga, Alberto Fernández Arregui and Cristian Conti. On Netflix. 7/10.

Enjoyable with great actors

[mmartic-21937 · 7/10 · 15 July 2022]

I am quite surprised with this little Nazi Zombie movie. English dubbing is the best I've ever seen.

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.

This was better left dead

[snuggybearkids · 3/10 · 14 July 2022]

Zombie films only work when the script works. That means story, dialogue, action. This film is the living dead, not the zombies. This translation of the Spanish original is so awful and cringing I was hoping the zombies would end it by the second act If indeed this dialogue was close in translation to the original, then that writer needs to write bad greeting cards with bad one liners. He'd be better suited. As for the characters, every woke trope and stereotype is included to blatant effect. Muslim, gay, fascist, Republican, SS, communist.. it's all included in a preposterous setting of the Spanish Civil War. Major disappointment (and that should be one of the soldier's name... It fits them). The only thing I will give merit to is the setting and the essence of what could have been a good zombie story if not for all this horrible dialogue and characters.

Interesting Movie

[rohanwinter · 7/10 · 14 July 2022]

Pro: Its a Zombie Nazi War Movie. Watch it for fun. After a tiring day at work. Grab and Beer and chips and Just watch it.

Cons: Bit long, lack of plot and I had to fast forward many times.

I give it a 7 as I just wanted to relax for before going to bed.

Really bland.

[stellan-sjolin · 3/10 · 18 July 2022]

Just bland, so very very bland. To call it "generic" is being way to nice. I was really bored when i watched this, still could not commit to the it. Started scrolling in my phone 10 min in, turned of the movie at 45 min.

The undead will never die

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 13 July 2022]

Do you like horror movies? Is blood and violence an issue? Depending on your answers, you may want to rethink wanting to watch this or not. Though to be honest, I would be surprised if you made it here and you were not sure - on the other hand: better safe than sorry! No pun intended - especially considering what the characters here have to go through.

It may not always make sense, but the movie is still more than decent. Especially considering the low budget this has. I wouldn't compare it to the Resident Evil, but if you feel that way, I fully support it. Especially if that made you have a good time with this right here :)

A somewhat bland and chaotic zombie mess...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 11 July 2022]

I was somewhat thrilled as I stumbled upon this Spanish zombie movie titled "Malnazidos" (aka "Valley of the Dead"). Why? Well, because I am a big fan of all things zombie, and stumbling upon a zombie movie that I haven't heard of is grounds for sitting down to watch it without knowing anything about it.

However, I have to say that writers Jaime Marques and Cristian Conti only managed to churn out a somewhat generic storyline and plot for the movie, which meant that directors Alberto de Toro and Javier Ruiz Caldera didn't have all that much to impress the audience with.

Sure, "Malnazidos" was watchable, but that was just about all there was to it. Personally, then I can't claim that the storyline had much of a foothold in me, and thus I was only partially entertained by this Spanish zombie movie. I managed to sit through the entire movie, however I do doubt that I will ever be returning to watch "Malnazidos" a second time.

The acting performances in the movie was okay. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble here. However, it was a shame that the actors and actresses essentially had mostly bland, flaccid and generic characters and dialogue to work with. I honestly didn't really care one ounce about the characters or their motivations.

Visually then "Malnazidos" was actually adequate. There wasn't enough blood and gore in the movie, though, to fully make a life-long gorehound such as myself overly happy. Sure, the special effects in the movie were fair enough, but it lacked all that blood and guts that you usually have in zombie movies.

I would say that "Malnazidos" is a movie suitable for a newcomer to the zombie genre, for someone whom haven't yet been introduced to the works of George A. Romero or the pop culture phenomenon that is "The Walking Dead" for example.

My rating of "Malnazidos" lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

I didn't see that coming.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 21 July 2022]

A zombie movie, set during The Spanish civil war, a film dogged by Covid 19 production problems, sounds like a recipe for disaster, right?

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.

A lot of fun

[redtiago · 7/10 · 26 July 2022]

During the Spanish Civil War, the Nazis conduct experiments on the civilian population of a remote area in Spain, turning them into zombies. Francoists and revolutionaries then unite to survive the chaos.

Comical zombie horror with an Indiana Jones touch and a lot of fun as only the Spaniards know how to do.

In line with the films of Alex de la Iglesia but with less refinement.

I recommend it's a lot of fun.

Action horror comedy falls flat

[hellhoundc · 4/10 · 12 July 2022]

I love zombie movies but i hate when they are made into like an action horror comedy at the same time. Shaun of the dead is the lone exception. This had a lot of potential but it just got real boring. I finished it but They should have made it into a real war zombie horror movie. It would have been better that way.

Spanish war film with a twist

[Stanlee107 · 6/10 · 15 July 2022]

It is a decent film. The main protagonist is a smart mouth funny character that has an innate ability to getting under people's skin. It is a war film whereby the antagonists are creating "killers". On a mission to deliver a top secret message, the protagonist encounters some unexpected obstacles...

I have seen films like this before but what a difference a good script makes to elevate this from being an average run of the mill film. It is in Spanish but if you just read the subtitles you can appreciate the script.

Simple, basic but effective !

[demangeonolivier · 6/10 · 21 July 2022]

"Valley of the Dead" is a good little zombie movie with a simple story, classic plot and basic development. The rhythm is well balanced between palavers and action scenes. The narrative is fluid and the narration is linear. The photography is pleasant, the music is pleasant and the editing is coherent. The distribution offers good performances overall, but does not avoid falling into certain clichés of the genre. The set fulfills its entertainment function, but will not be memorable in this regularly visited theme.

This movie is so bad it actually made me write a review

[araugonzalo · 1/10 · 14 July 2022]

I don't normally write reviews, but this piece of work is terrible, even for a comedy. The republicans(leftists/communists) are presented as some kind of superhero squad ticking all the woke boxes, strong female character, the macho communist that constantly insults fascists, even a mujahideen to appease muslim minorities. The fascists are presented as 2 lame virgin dudes that have no idea why they are enlisted in the army.

The zombies are as fake as you can get. I look more like a real zombie when I wake up on a monday morning.

Fairly decent zombie movie

[jjdynamic · 6/10 · 7 August 2022]

I'm a sucker for zombie entertainment so I had to download this. It's not much to write home to about, but it was enough to say "not so bad, it might have some replay value". Did have some nice humor sprinkled in as well. Kind of gave me a little Shaun of the Dead / Life After Beth feels.

Typical Netflix trope.

[that_random_guy · 1/10 · 12 July 2022]

Apparently Spain during Civil War was quite diverse; muslims, Russians, strong female characters and gays were commonly accepted in the 1930's.

Done? Are we at one hundred-fifty characters?

A decent zombie flick

[jsumm96 · 7/10 · 19 November 2022]

Having been hesitant to give this film a go because of the general low rating, I'm honestly quite surprised this only has a 5.8/10, I've seen much worse films that have higher ratings!

Of course for a zombie film it doesn't have a ton of originality, but for the story of it being set during the Spanish civil war was quite interesting, all the actors were great and the effects didn't feel too cheap.

There was also some good character development throughout the film which also helped to drive the plot forward.

Overall I would say don't let the low rating put you off, if you're into zombie films then you'll enjoy this, definitely one of the better Netflix films I've seen of recent.

It's predictable

[DaegT · 5/10 · 8 August 2022]

Apart from the backdrop of the Spanish civil war, which drew my attention a little bit, the movie was so predictable in every aspect. Honestly I broke the movie into 2 halves to watch (yeah give me a break!). It's boring for me. I finished it just because I wanted to see something different at the end of the movie. But no, it's just mediocre.

Don't expect it to be another REC.

Much more than I anticipated!

[Mike_T-Little_Mtn_Sound_Archive · 8/10 · 12 July 2022]

Turning on Netflix today, I noticed this new addition, and as a lover of all things zombie & gore it was a natural viewing choice for me.

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!

Ok-ish zombie movie for the pile

[pachomar84 · 6/10 · 13 July 2022]

Can't really say something good or bad for this movie. It's not in the pile of crap Netflix releases by hordes, but it doesn't have anything that makes it above average. Characters are stereotypes, but this was obiously intentional for the tone. Speaking of which, this is supposed to take place in the spanish civil war in late 30s, but of course it has to have diverse an inclsive characters, like the strong sexy female, a muslim? Fighting in the spanish army, a badass nun wit a rifle. Yeh, its not supposed to be funny or parody, but yet it is Having said that, if you like zombie films anshave nothing else to watch, you wont regret spending 2 hours with this.

Bland

[lidiamartinezprado · 27 September 2022]

As a native spanish, I didn't like the actors in general, some of them were terribly bad, specially the kid , the girl and some other characters... I guess the good reviews come from non native speakers, if you take away feeling how ankward Spanish actors sounds to us, the movie looks better. It's very common in Spain to see this kind of "theatre" acting that looks absolutely fake.

About the movie... It's well made, hence the rating. But for the plot and dialogs, I've seen everything already. All cliches. Nothing new. Not very funny, not very gory, weird puffs of blood all the time... I don't know. Not interesting. Bland.

Seen it all before

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 21 July 2022]

Since I saw the trailer on Netflix I was hoping a lot from this, but it seems I'm missing something. VALLEY OF THE DEAD is another generic low budget zombie film, this time hailing from Spain. Sure, the Civil War backdrop is different to all the rest in this genre, but it all boils down to exactly the same kind of thing as in many other zombie movies: gore, banding together against a greater peril, run-for-your-life action. Very predictable in other words, and I'm starting to think the genre is dead - properly dead.

Excellent adventure movie

[rum2550 · 7/10 · 17 July 2022]

This movie reminded me of Brandon Fraser's first "Mummy"movie. It is basically about a bunch of people from rival parties in a war getting together to fight zombies. It is a really fast-paced movie with lots of action and funny moments. It was great to watch an old fashioned adventure movie in a while. Highly recommended to anyone loving zombie movies and action adventures.