(8/10)
The concept of a platoon of dead Nazi soldiers inhabiting a lake as underwater zombies is a pretty
oddball plot device - hard to believe this was used not once, not twice, but three times between the
70's and 80's. That's probably enough to consider it it's own genre! Of course, this starts when one
excellent movie is made (in this case, Ken Wederhorn's effective "Shock Waves") and more
disreputable film makers jump on board with their version. "Zombie Lake" was a French/German
co-production co-written by celebrated sicko Jess Franco and directed by fellow Euro-perv Jean Rollin.
Franco was set to direct but didn't and later helmed his own underwater-Nazi-zombie flick "Oasis of the
Zombies" (a complete bore, which I have yet to sit through all the way).
This much-maligned film has always had a special place in my heart since I first saw it at about the age of
14 when some of my horny buddies and I rented the old cheaply-transferred Wizard Video VHS version.
There were way too many naked girls for it not to become an instant classic among my pals and I. Add to
that the horribly dubbed horrible dialogue - there's a few guys I still see who will every now and then
throw out a quote like 'didn't she say (pause) where the fuck she was going?' while moving their mouths
to not match up - and it was magic!
Over the credits one gorgeous French girl (who looks a bit like a young Barbara Carrerra) strips nude,
sunbathes in loving close-up, then goes swimming in the lake. Once in the lake we're treated to
underwater shots shot from below the actress. And all of her leg-spreading underwater kicking ALMOST
distracts us from noticing she's clearly now in a swimming pool.
After the green-faced zombies rise up and pull her under with them her pals start to worry about her.
They decide if she hasn't returned by tomorrow they'll go talk to the mayor! The mayor in this little
village is actually quite accessible. At one point a villager escorts a reporter to the mayor's mansion and
tells her to just knock on the door and let herself in. Anyway, the next day when they involve the mayor
he decides if she doesn't show up by the following day he'll contact the police (OK, when there's a
problem we go to the mayor first and if he comes up empty only THEN do we involve the police!).
The mayor is played by top-billed Howard Vernon - a Jess Franco regular - who is by far the most
convincing zombie in the flick. He sleepwalks around, seems none too perturbed by ANYTHING - even
when he announces to the town that the 'zombies have declared war on the village'. He says everything
in a dull monotone, and the DVD gives us the option to hear the original French language version, so
we can see his own delivery was equally dispassionate.
Anyway, the green-faced zombies continue to munch on an all-female basketball team who drop by the
lake for an all-nude swim as well as a young girl on a road near the lake. That scene in particular is
pretty funny because when the zombie puts the bite on the young girl's neck his cheap green make-up
actually rubs off on her face!
There's not much explanation as to why any of this is happening, other than the lake - which I'm pretty
sure the mayor says is actually called the 'Goddamned Lake' - was once 'used for witchcraft' (whatever
that means). It turns out the mayor and his pals in town were part of the French resistance toward the
end of the war and ambushed the Nazi soldiers and dumped their bodies in the 'Goddamned Lake'. Now
they're back for revenge or nourishment or to cop a feel off some young French hotties or something
(never made quite clear).
Fortunately, one of the Nazis fathered a child with a young girl from the village (who seems to have died
at pretty much the same time he did for no reason that's ever explained). His daughter seems to be 8
years old although the film appears to take place in the 70's (and the villagers involved in the ambush
don't seem to have aged much or changed clothes in many cases). The little girl requests a bucket of
human blood (!) and sets a trap for her father and his pals before the 'tear-jerker' finale (which I'm sure
you can pretty much figure out).
Frankly, I'm glad Franco didn't direct this - he most likely would have spoiled this enjoyably goofy zombie
opus with his usual ugly, misogynistic sadism. Rollin is clearly much more interested in showing naked
girls than telling a story or even making much sense or covering up continuity errors. For a European
zombie flick it isn't very graphic at all in terms of violence - it's probably the most bloodless zombie
movie since "I Eat Your Skin." Somehow this whole hodgepodge of silliness - the green-faced zombies,
the endless parade of gratuitously disrobing French girls, the atrociously written and delivered
dialogue, the outlandish plot twists, the dreadful dubbing - all adds up to a charmingly funny-awful
movie for the midnight hour. Though it wouldn't hurt if you start drinking around 9.
Was available from Image Video as part of their Euroshock collection (which seems to be out of print at
this point). The DVD has a nice widescreen transfer and looks pretty clear. Cool extras are the original
trailer, the French dialogue track (though no subtitles) and alternate versions of scenes where the
actresses are clothed (which answers my question as to how this would have ever been shown on
regular TV). You can get yours here:
http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Lake-Burt-Altman/dp/B000059H88/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=12407
73937&sr=8-1
The concept of a platoon of dead Nazi soldiers inhabiting a lake as underwater zombies is a pretty
oddball plot device - hard to believe this was used not once, not twice, but three times between the
70's and 80's. That's probably enough to consider it it's own genre! Of course, this starts when one
excellent movie is made (in this case, Ken Wederhorn's effective "Shock Waves") and more
disreputable film makers jump on board with their version. "Zombie Lake" was a French/German
co-production co-written by celebrated sicko Jess Franco and directed by fellow Euro-perv Jean Rollin.
Franco was set to direct but didn't and later helmed his own underwater-Nazi-zombie flick "Oasis of the
Zombies" (a complete bore, which I have yet to sit through all the way).
This much-maligned film has always had a special place in my heart since I first saw it at about the age of
14 when some of my horny buddies and I rented the old cheaply-transferred Wizard Video VHS version.
There were way too many naked girls for it not to become an instant classic among my pals and I. Add to
that the horribly dubbed horrible dialogue - there's a few guys I still see who will every now and then
throw out a quote like 'didn't she say (pause) where the fuck she was going?' while moving their mouths
to not match up - and it was magic!
Over the credits one gorgeous French girl (who looks a bit like a young Barbara Carrerra) strips nude,
sunbathes in loving close-up, then goes swimming in the lake. Once in the lake we're treated to
underwater shots shot from below the actress. And all of her leg-spreading underwater kicking ALMOST
distracts us from noticing she's clearly now in a swimming pool.
After the green-faced zombies rise up and pull her under with them her pals start to worry about her.
They decide if she hasn't returned by tomorrow they'll go talk to the mayor! The mayor in this little
village is actually quite accessible. At one point a villager escorts a reporter to the mayor's mansion and
tells her to just knock on the door and let herself in. Anyway, the next day when they involve the mayor
he decides if she doesn't show up by the following day he'll contact the police (OK, when there's a
problem we go to the mayor first and if he comes up empty only THEN do we involve the police!).
The mayor is played by top-billed Howard Vernon - a Jess Franco regular - who is by far the most
convincing zombie in the flick. He sleepwalks around, seems none too perturbed by ANYTHING - even
when he announces to the town that the 'zombies have declared war on the village'. He says everything
in a dull monotone, and the DVD gives us the option to hear the original French language version, so
we can see his own delivery was equally dispassionate.
Anyway, the green-faced zombies continue to munch on an all-female basketball team who drop by the
lake for an all-nude swim as well as a young girl on a road near the lake. That scene in particular is
pretty funny because when the zombie puts the bite on the young girl's neck his cheap green make-up
actually rubs off on her face!
There's not much explanation as to why any of this is happening, other than the lake - which I'm pretty
sure the mayor says is actually called the 'Goddamned Lake' - was once 'used for witchcraft' (whatever
that means). It turns out the mayor and his pals in town were part of the French resistance toward the
end of the war and ambushed the Nazi soldiers and dumped their bodies in the 'Goddamned Lake'. Now
they're back for revenge or nourishment or to cop a feel off some young French hotties or something
(never made quite clear).
Fortunately, one of the Nazis fathered a child with a young girl from the village (who seems to have died
at pretty much the same time he did for no reason that's ever explained). His daughter seems to be 8
years old although the film appears to take place in the 70's (and the villagers involved in the ambush
don't seem to have aged much or changed clothes in many cases). The little girl requests a bucket of
human blood (!) and sets a trap for her father and his pals before the 'tear-jerker' finale (which I'm sure
you can pretty much figure out).
Frankly, I'm glad Franco didn't direct this - he most likely would have spoiled this enjoyably goofy zombie
opus with his usual ugly, misogynistic sadism. Rollin is clearly much more interested in showing naked
girls than telling a story or even making much sense or covering up continuity errors. For a European
zombie flick it isn't very graphic at all in terms of violence - it's probably the most bloodless zombie
movie since "I Eat Your Skin." Somehow this whole hodgepodge of silliness - the green-faced zombies,
the endless parade of gratuitously disrobing French girls, the atrociously written and delivered
dialogue, the outlandish plot twists, the dreadful dubbing - all adds up to a charmingly funny-awful
movie for the midnight hour. Though it wouldn't hurt if you start drinking around 9.
Was available from Image Video as part of their Euroshock collection (which seems to be out of print at
this point). The DVD has a nice widescreen transfer and looks pretty clear. Cool extras are the original
trailer, the French dialogue track (though no subtitles) and alternate versions of scenes where the
actresses are clothed (which answers my question as to how this would have ever been shown on
regular TV). You can get yours here:
http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Lake-Burt-Altman/dp/B000059H88/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=12407
73937&sr=8-1
 |
Rating;
| by Jim Haggerty |
