WAR OF THE DEAD (2011)

For those of you who like your horror with a heavy dose of action, adrenaline and BALLZ!!!, I present to you WAR OF THE DEAD. The film views like an episode of BAND OF BROTHERS with zombies as American, Russian, and Finnish soldiers attempt to work together in a battle where the Nazi soldiers they are fighting simply will not have the decency to die.

WAR OF THE DEAD opens with a man captured in battle being led to an operating room where he’s experimented on and then dies, only to reawaken as a zombie. Cut to a group of grunts chugging through frosted and forested terrain. The troops make their way to a cabin and I was getting a very DOG SOLDIERS-ish vibe for a while as the soldiers battle the zombie soldiers bursting through the windows and walls. Thankfully, the film moves out of the house and into a secret Nazi scientist facility bunker where most of the latter half of the film takes place.

Director Marko Mäkilaakso does a good job of incorporating the action with the horror. Though he does seem to like to use slo mo a bit excessively to highlight dramatic events, most of the time he does so effectively. I’d put WAR OF THE DEAD in the same category as the UNDERWORLD series, using all kinds of flashy camerawork in its action-oriented horror tale.

The film fleshes itself out by delving into the relations between the Finnish, American, and Russian soldiers, casting the American as the soldier less gung ho about working together. In a commanding performance, Andrew Tiernan stars as the most sensible (and most badass) of the soldiers and delivers a gruff and powerful performance as he hits all of the action beats with a lot of gristle as well as provides some soul to the quieter scenes in the film. Given the backdrop of World War II when this film is set, WAR OF THE DEAD does seem to want to make a statement about the fragility of international relations at the time and today, but doesn’t let that get in the way of making some gripping scenes of battle and action with the unkillable dead.

The ending of this film suggests that this war is definitely not over by a long shot. I liked WAR OF THE DEAD. Though it tries to get heady, it’s much more enjoyable as a fun mix of war stories and horror—a subgenre which doesn’t dance often. Here the mix is most definitely digestible and delivers enough hard hitting action to satisfy folks liking a bit of punch with their scares.

Check out the trailer here!!