Shock Waves (1976)
Posted on August 7, 2005
Filed Under Zombies
You learn something new every day. According to a quote on the DVD cover, Shock Waves is “the best of the Nazi zombie movies”, a sub-genre that I didn’t even know existed until this movie crossed my radar. I have to say that I was drawn to this mid-70s chiller, in which the aforementioned Nazi zombies rise out of the sea to menace a shipwrecked group of holidaymakers, because of its lurid premise, and the hilariously contorted logic that says Nazi zombies are going to be somehow more evil than ‘ordinary’ zombies (as pointed out by my girlfriend). Matters weren’t helped by the histrionic trailer here that makes the movie look like a rather tedious runaround, with the breathless voiceover guy trying his best to whip up some excitement.
If you approach Shock Waves expecting either Romero’s social commentary or Fulci’s all-out splatter, you’ll be disappointed. There’s virtually no blood or gore, and the script’s premised on a rather cartoony idea of the Nazis. Instead, director Ken Wiederhorn goes for atmosphere, and it’s there in spades, in the pretty-but-eery coastal scenery, the rather grainy photography or Richard Einhorn’s creepy score, which like many contemporary horror movies, gives the composer’s analogue synth a good workout. Shock Waves has been compared to Carnival of Souls in the past, and it’s a fair claim; not a vast amount happens, there aren’t very many shocks, but there’s a terrible tension that builds all the way up to the final scene. It also helps that the actors underplay, which does help sell us their characters as real people; no-one gets any big speeches or much in the way of background, making them seem more like ordinary people caught in a horrible situation. Luke Halpin overcomes his unfortunate hair and moustache combo to give a decent performance as the navigator-turned-self appointed leader, and the gorgeous Brooke Adams is great, portraying sheer terror without descending into cliched hysteria. John Carradine gives an amusing bad-tempered performance as the captain, whilst Peter Cushing brings gravitas and presence to his emaciated Nazi scientist, even if his German accent is as slight as his worryingly spindly arms.
The zombies themselves are pretty good, looking more water-bloated than decomposed, as you’d expect from thirty years in the sea. They’re not given a vast amount to do, and the scenes of them sitting up in the water get a bit repetitive after a while, but they do have a quiet menace when going about their killing. Seeing as they’re actually genetically modified SS super-soldiers rather than living dead, they’re not your conventional zombie, but a bit of blood might have been nice just to make some of the attack scenes seem a bit less antiseptic. Still, Shock Waves is a creepy little film that delivers the goods if you approach it with the right expectations - it’s not for gorehounds or zombie obsessives, but fans of slow-burning tension will find something to like about it.
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