A man arrives at his ex-girlfriend's apartment to drop off her keys, but finds she isn't home. Almost immediately, a zombie virus starts to spread around Berlin, and he finds himself holed up in his ex's apartment along with a teenage plumber working next door. Together, they must find a way to survive and the man must also ensure that his ex can and WILL be found, safe and sound.
You know, outside of Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Anatomy, and Nekromantik, I can't recall the last time I've even HEARD of a horror film coming out of Germany. The country's views/laws on violence in the media has certainly been reflected in the outright banning of several flicks like Braindead and Evil Dead, and in specific metal band CDs from Cannibal Corpse and the like. So it is a rarity for something like this to even get off the ground.
Rammbock (subtitle Berlin Undead) isn't going to blow viewers away, but there really isn't anything to hate here either. The casting is fine, even if the acting ranges a bit from "fully awake" to "just going into college." It has an underlying sense of humor that doesn't feel too out of place, and it's always nice to see folks utilize what they have in order to survive, even if they aren't weapons of any sort. Outside of those ordinary belongings and staples of the genre, writer Benjamin Kressler does play with a few unique ideas. The fact that the zombies here were susceptible and sensitive to flash photography is a bit interesting, though it also made me wonder if these were the remnants of Euro Itchy and Scratchy Land. Someone who recalls specifics of Zombies 101, please let me know if this is something new or something that just isn't brought up in discussion.
I think it is unfortunate that this film's biggest flaws were something it probably couldn't help. For one thing, the film's only an hour long, and for a zombie movie, that is criminally short. We could have spent more time developing characters outside of one or two, or even helped set up better scares and kills. Speaking of kills, this is a surprisingly tame zombie movie. Perhaps the budget or Germany's censors are to blame, but outside of a couple of slightly graphic shots, you could have rated this PG-13 and nobody would have complained.
Overall, Rammbock is.....just okay. What, were you expecting me to say anything more? Well, I can't. The film's only an hour long after all.
A young couple, Lucas and Clementine, live in a serene and quiet countryside. One night, after Clementine comes home from work, they both settle in for the evening. Several hours later, they soon find themselves being harassed and terrorized throughout the night by mysterious, hooded assailants, for apparently no reason whatsoever.
I'm coming to the conclusion that I just don't like modern French horror. While I applaud the creativity involved, and can appreciate the makeup and gore in certain instances (Inside, Martyrs), I just ultimately come away feeling disappointed EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
I remember seeing the DVD cover to this back in my days of working at Hollywood Video, and at first glance, I dismissed it, thinking it was some forgettable, supernatural-inspired dreck. Au contraire, since the terror in this film comes from the complete opposite of that subject. I've always felt that the best modern horror comes from fear of the living, not the dead. Our couple/victims in Them feel very real, something that I have to give the casting director a lot of props for. This is something that I'm willing to bet was a major fault about its American remake. I don't necessarily think that unknown casts work best all the time, but it does here. They feel like they could be any couple possible, which adds to its overall feeling of dread and could drive more anxious viewers to paranoia.
Now of course comes the part where I become a nitpicking asshole. First off, this is by far the slowest film I've encountered on the list, and possibly the slowest of the "French Horror" flicks I've seen to date. I honestly almost nodded off during certain points that were supposed to be integral to the plot (or whatever resembles it). Another major complaint I have revolves around the couple themselves. I know that we as human beings can act pretty dumb when we're scared, but never this stupid. There are two different scenes where we witness the couple using a cell phone and utensils, neither of which they figure to use during the horror portion of the film. It is utterly absurd, and their complete cowardice at times isn't helping break the old stereotype about the French being "pussies." It drove me nuts.
Well yes, yes I have. And it still didn't help, especially when you consider that this is supposed to be based off of true events. Hell, there are films out there involving the "home invaders" plot device that I enjoy, like Single White Female, Black Christmas, and Funny Games. Whatever the case, I can respect certain parts of Them, but I don't think I'm going to be revisiting this one any time soon. C'est la vie.
Tomorrow, I FINALLY get around to reviewing Ti West's THE INNKEEPERS.
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