War Of The Dead DVD Review

I love zombie films, and these days anyone can become a zombie. Even Nazis. I’ve long been fascinated with World War II, and of course one of the most intriguing things about the Nazis is their bizarre, cruel experiments. At the beginning of War Of The Dead, some Nazis are conducting some sort of experiment on a captured soldier. And a title card gives us a bit of information on the Nazi “Anti-Death experiments,” ending with the line “This much is true.” And hell, right then I’m completely on board.

A special military force has orders to attack a bunker, but there is something the men aren’t told. Some of them can sense this, and are uneasy. There’s a gun battle, and half the company is killed. And then that night they’re attacked again – this time by zombies, jumping from the trees.

It’s dark, and they’re at first unsure of just who is attacking them, which is interesting because you get the sense that that is what war is like at times. It’s more a question of staying alive and fighting whatever enemy arises rather than dealing with the questions regarding zombies. The problem for me is we have several fight sequences, and little time to get our bearings, and little information. And there is some bad dialogue. “At least he died doing what he loved.” And: “I’m going out” – “With a bang” – “You betcha.”

By the way, these aren’t your normal mindless zombies. They jump like vampires. They run. They have strength. And there are other interesting elements too, like a strange box (and a similar-looking necklace) and some weird stuff a soldier’s coat that seems to come alive (prompting the questions, “What is that? What’s going on?” from the characters).

The survivors are joined by a Russian who tells them about a radio in the bunker. And finally they remember their mission – about halfway through the film. Once they make it inside the bunker, that’s when the movie gets interesting. But I was still left with several questions (“What is that? What’s going on?”). I would have liked a lot more about the actual experiments.

War Of The Deadwas written and directed by Marko Makilaakso. It stars Andrew Tiernan, Mikko Leppilampi and Samuel Vauramo. The DVD’s only bonus feature is the trailer. The DVD is scheduled to be released on January 1, 2013.