Clash of the Dead, (2016)

Also known as 'World War Dead: Rise of the Fallen"

     

     While filming a documentary on the Battle of The Somme, a group of filmmakers are warned by a passing Frenchman that the area they are filming in is not safe. They decided to keep this warning in the film’s “making of” reel. And so, cameras continue to roll for a behind-the-scenes film aside from the actual feature.

     After a few creepy suspense moments peppered amongst the get-to-know scenes, and a body is found. But this body was chained up in a box in the water with an amulet on it that the scientist among the group believes was purported to have immortality attributes. The inevitable ensues.

The 'soldiers emerging from the mist' scene ranks up there with any climbing from the grave scene!

     Shown through the documentary’s cameraman’s lens as well as a few hand-held cameras, the movie switches between polished and “found-footage,” (in what I imagine would amount to a reconstructed account, should the narrative continue so far.) The switching back and forth is a welcome respite from the twitchiness of first-person, “Blair Witch”-type of footage film, which is in full effect, along with some focus/static/hold issues tossed in occasionally to assist in the story’s narrative. A bit annoying at times, but an effective tool.

    The zombies are, of course, Nazi Zombies, (type #5 in my Zombie Classification Chart!) but these soldiers are a bit different. The titular dead in question are more Romero-esque in nature. They attack with their hands and teeth, not weapons, and move in a classic staggering/shambolic way. Also, the question of contagion from a bite comes up, but the ‘destroy the brain’ theory never got put to test. In all, it is less of an outbreak of Zombism, and more of an occupation of it.

     The pacing is balanced and natural. There is a slow build up to the actually action, but the kick-off scene, the one which really acts as a starter pistol for the horror, is a great one. The crew is doing some filming in a wood-rimmed field when a figure staggers all silhouetted out of the dusky shadows. As the crew look towards the person making his way silently toward them, others appear from the wood all around them. Annoyance towards to concern quickly, and as the soldiers attack, the disbelief and subsequent WTF moment is caught on the previously mentioned shaky hand-helds.

     The documentarists with cameras and the ones with either good sense or good cowardice choose to leg it, and the chase between the unarmed filmmakers and the undead soldiers is the meat and potatoes of the film, with trenches, tunnels and some really dramatic countryside scenes for backdrops.

     The Nazis Zombies, themselves, do not get much in-focus screen time. The dusk/night setting, the trenches, and the tunnels, while creepy and add some terrific atmosphere, make for some difficulty to see the soldiers’ faces. This, combined with the frenetic camera work, surely helped to keep the make-up budget down. I can’t complain about this, though, since crap make-up jobs can really kill a nice, scary vibe and turn serious horror sour quickly. The shortage of clear shots of the century-old undead side-steps this issue neatly.

     I, of course, turned to my Zombie Movies Rubric for a more objective scoring and Clash Of The Dead earned itself a 2.88 points out of a potential 4. This comes with a solid recommendation as an enjoyable entry into the field of zombie pictures!

     For a glimpse of the movie, YouTube has a REALLY cool trailer for it here: CLASH OF THE DEAD.

     Try not to be put off by the total crap job of the cover art. 

See? Told you it wascrap!