Oasis of the Zombies, 1981

During WWII , six million dollars in gold gets stashed in a North African desert oasis. The soldiers transporting it were slaughtered and their corpses left to guard it.

Flash forward to the present, (well, not really. 1981,) a mercenary is hoping to find that gold, and nothing short of killing will stop him. Meanwhile, the son of the man recently killed by the aforementioned mercenary, and a group of his fellow students ALSO go gold seeking… only to find the Undead soldiers!

Lots of unfulfilled plot potential in the back-story, and the barely-kept promise of Nazi Zombies, along with deceptively cool poster art is the hook, and the bait. Sadly, there’s not all that much more.

The titular Zombies are slow and lumbering, (which can be good!) and subterranean. Not in a buried way, but more like the subaquatic Nazis Zs from Shockwaves. They also are repelled by sunlight and fire and are EXTREMELY combustible! (Almost as if they are dressed in oil-soaked newspaper!) 

Also a plus is the lack of growling. Actually, they display no facial movements through their rubbery features. An occasion writhing worm gets camera attention, but unfortunately shows off the pop-eyed masks. 

    Also, these boys are only by the narrowest of margins classified as “Nazi Zombies.” And even then, they would disappoint.

The movie is slow to get going, and then slow-going. A decent editor could have pruned out 30 minutes of walking scenes, and another 30 minutes of unnecessary character development to make this movie only a LITTLE too long.

I imagine most of the blame for this falls on the attempt to create atmosphere. But suspense needs payoff. And thank goodness for the creepy organ music, so I knew when I should be scared.

The actual oasis also could’ve been utilized better, too. It looked more like storm damage in the tropics. As far as an exotic setting, it comes in like another unfulfilled promise.

I am obviously somewhat biased, so, to the ZMR we go for more objectivity!

The Zombie Movie Rubric gives this Jess Franco offering a solid 1 out of 4 uh, ‘stars?’ Points were scored primarily to the unfortunately underutilized undead and the way they moved.

 

Sadly, a 1 out of 4 translates to an “Don’t Bother,” rating, unless you’ve got time to kill, and just want to see how bad it is really is. 

I personally feel a 1 is generous. Everything about Oasis of the Zombies was a completely forgettable Z-flick to me.

YouTube trailer, here: Oasis of the Zombies

The Children, 1980

 

Well, Kaufman, Hertz, and the Troma Team are back with an unique new take on a then-still fairly young genre! Oh, hey! Pun!

So, synopsis: In the fictitious town of Ravensback, Massachusetts, a school bus carrying five children passes through a noxious yellow cloud that was emitted from a haphazardly repaired nuclear plant. Result - The Children become atomic, undead, killing machines!!!

Now, before you get too excited, I should explain. Way back in 1980, Troma decided to do a 180º revamp on the Zombie Genre… Well, maybe not 180º, but a solid 90º left! 

You see, the children-zombies kill by touching. They call out “Mama,” (or whatever the intended victim’s name is,) and reach out for an apparent hug. The resulting embrace leaves the victim smoldering, and dead, and covered with what appear to be radiation burns. So, there's that.

What’s more, the dead stay dead - there is no Zombism transference.

The children-zombies ARE dead, (as Sheriff Billy proved by blasting 9-year-old Jenny through the chest without a second's  hesitation!) but retain some consciousness, as evidenced by the aforementioned calling out for loved ones, and evading and hiding when being hunted. Aside from this, they tend to move in a nice, creepy, silent-corpsey way.

And, in a very bizarre twist of events, however, they can only be killed by the cutting off their hands! Yup. You read that right, the hands.

You see, in full Zombie, hunting-mode, the children-zombie’s fingernails are black. When sleeping, dead, or ‘disarmed,’ (see what I did there?) their nails are the natural color. No notice of this was made by victims or survivors, but a show of this was made of this for the viewers' attention.

So what we get here is a very unusual entry into the genre, with the term ‘Zombies’ is used in a "well, technically,"-type of definition. The Children does display a fairly unique premise, (even if the ‘toxic waste’ thing is pretty cliché by now,) and some genuinely suspenseful moments. 

    Also, the acting was decent and no overtly stupid decisions were made to progress the story, (obviously a pet peeve of mine.) The film moved along nicely, and despite being a Troma production, the kills were mostly bloodless and gore-free. And, hey! We even get a 'Stronghold attempt' scene! 

On The Zombie Movies Rubric, The Children racked up a solid 2 out of 4 points. This may not be what your common Zombie Movies fan is looking for, but as a late-night, early 80s, hour flick, it’s an enjoyable watch.

YouTube video of the movie trailer, here: The Children