Shock Waves (1977)

   Running Time: 90 minutes
Release Date: July 15, 1977

Review by: Chris

 

 "Don't go into the water." The tagline made famous by 1978's Jaws, still echo's down cinema's hallowed halls. It's a little known fact that Spielberg was inspired by the tagline "Don't go into the water...it's anti Semitic."  Born from this week's review feature, 1977's Shock Waves, a true story (probably not true...probably).  Ken Wiederhorn's stylistic nazi zombie film brings quite a few unique takes on the undead horror genre, not the least of which is the nazi zombie itself. After all what's worse than a zombie...that's right a zombie that hates freedom.

 

    Our tale launches off with a fisherman finding a small dingy floating adrift in the open water with a sole survivor, Rose, played by none other than Brooke Adams who would star in next years Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake with Donald Sutherland (great flick you should check it out). Rose then recounts for us the ill-fated voyage of the S.S. Minnow...no wait that's another subject that had 7 survivors of a ship-wrecked yacht...just like this film did. Besides Rose, the pleasure yacht is populated with a motley bunch led by a salty, gruff skipper played by the great character actor John Carradine. His first mate-the good hearted Keith, a married couple, a cook and another random vacationer who may or may not have been a professor. The yacht quickly runs afoul of strange orange mist that seemingly impairs their navigation and the crew is thrown off course. Not long after, Keith manages to run the yacht (oh, that zany Keith) into a old scuttled ship and damages the yacht beyond repair.  After our skipper is quickly dispatched off screen in an apparent drowning, the survivors abandon ship on a desert island just beyond the reef.  Here they discover an abandoned resort populated by a lone survivor played by Star Wars' own Peter Cushing.  Here we quickly learn that he was, in fact, a Nazi in charge of a special SS platoon of science experiments gone wrong who even the Fuhrer could not control and were abandoned at the end of the war where he self-exiled onto this forgotten place. 

Then the Nazi zombies rise. The Nazi's are not zombies in the Romero-style of undead. In fact, it is alluded that they are neither dead nor alive but somewhere in between (like when you wake up too early on Monday mornings).  They are actually some sort of super water soldiers whose sole motivation is the pleasure of killing. The rising from the depths is actually done quite well and a compliment must be paid to the cinematography cut around them. It certainly does well to increase the creep factor and build tension. One by one the survivors are dispatched by the Nazi zombies. It's interesting to note that there is no biting; no gut pulling and hardly even any blood! The victims are drowned or strangled in a most detached and precise manner.  To reiterate, these are not Romero zombies, they employ tactics and partake in psychological warfare with the survivors even though they far out number them. As their numbers dwindle it is discovered the sunlight is the Nazi's only weakness. Although this is too little too late for our last two survivors as they make a final breakneck attempt at escape via the dingy they salvaged from the wreck.  In their final attempt Keith, once again, gets the boat stuck on the reef (oh, that Keith) and is killed off just as he allows Mary Anne- I mean Rose, to escape.  We then flash forward to Rose, sitting quietly in a hospital, writing down the story, but as we pan around we see she is only writing gibberish.

    There is substance in Shock Waves. It really is a simple story of survival at all costs versus a walking nightmare. It is a tale that takes itself seriously and adds a strong artistic and stylish point to its entirety.  We are spared gore as the survivors are eliminated and instead the horrors are left to our imagination as one by one they are forcibly separated and terrorized until murdered.  The zombies themselves are done quite well; approaching the pinnacle of practical effects for the period. Once again praise must be sung for the visuals in Shock Waves. Everything from the interior hotel shots to the slow risings of the Nazis paints a marvelous picture of slow ebbing dread and terror. There is a deliberate pacing at work that strains to build suspense via atmosphere over actual actions. Therein lies a chink in the armor. The pacing, a slow crawl.  Shock Waves spends so much trying to build tension by showing you the race track that we forget we are at a race.  A modern audience is used to receiving action beats.  Those do not exist here.  Even for 1977, the film suffers from a shuffling pace. Even with the unique plot, well made effects, more than decent acting and dialog with beautiful visuals, the slow crawl of atmosphere is not enough to bring out a scare.

    Should you watch Shock Waves?  This film will not make you sweat. It will not terrify you. It may make you and your friends nod off; especially after a day of drinking and Texas barbeque.  However, this film is good.  Visually beautiful.  It bore an interesting child in the Nazi zombie.  But the mind numbing slow trot will make it a chill instead of a thrill.  Instead, why not watch the original TV series?  It was a bit funnier!

 

6/10  wacky coconut radios

 

Shock Waves trailer: