Zombie Lake (1981)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

In a small village, somewhere in France, German soldiers, killed and thrown into the lake by the Resistance during WW II, come back.The story was written by Jess Franco, although I am not sure how much thought had to go into this one. The film was directed by Jean Rollin (who was ashamed of his own work), and the opening scene pushes even his casual attitude towards female nudity to its limits. They both have a respectable career to some degree... not sure how this ended up on their resume.Almost no effort was put into the Nazi zombies, who are just guys with a little green makeup smeared on their face. I can do a better makeup job in my bathroom, and they do not ask me to do effects for horror films. The people who were behind this should not be proud.This ranks pretty low on the "Nazi zombie" scale, behind "Dead Snow" and "Shock Waves", and even behind another Jess Franco film "Oasis of the Zombies". This is, indeed, among the worst...

...There is no real plot. The zombies themselves look really really poor, simply men with green paint on. It's embarrassing to watch as the 'actors' emerge from the lake with most of the green makeup washing of with each clichéd lurch. The blood and gore is not really worth mentioning as all of it is off screen with the simple ketchup spray of blood on the floor or grass to give indication of death.To top this movie off the dialog itself is really poor, and the UK DVD disc I viewed has quite possibly the worst dubbing ever; it was quite clear that all the voices were done by a single man and woman.Overall, this film has to be seen to be believed, ironically enough I strongly urge you just to take our word for it – and for the love of god don't watch it. I honestly mean it; this film is simply not worth watching. It's barely a movie by my definition of the word. It's an insult to the genre.Read the full review at: beyondthegore

Needless to say, "Zombie Lake" is no masterpiece of filmmaking. It is, however, one hilariously bad Nazi-zombie flick with a few good points.1. Decent atmosphere throughout; the French countryside makes a FINE place for a pond of undead National Socialists, don't you think? 2.Nice little romantic side-story, with the Nazi-dad and his little girl.3. Plenty of athletically-built, scantily-clad chicks who seem to have little regard for decency as they regularly disrobe to take a dip in the pond.Obviously you are not going to get the next "Dawn of the Dead" here, but "Zombie Lake" is plenty entertaining to sit around and swig a couple beers, relax and have a laugh at.High points for me are the swimming pool ladders visible in some of the underwater scenes and the green makeup that even comes off onto one of the victims arms in a killing scene. The only thing that really drags this movie down is a lack of gore. The zombie killings look more like vampires biting their victims...maybe they were supposed to be vamps? Lost in translation perhaps. (After all, the literal translation of the title is "Lake of the Dead." Maybe they were in fact vampires.)At any rate, if they had thrown some of that good ole raw meat and a little gut-munching, "Zombie Lake" would have scored higher for sure.6 out of 10, kids.

After the French Resistance during the second World War, French soldiers took care of the Nazi threat. Instead of disposing of them properly, they dumped the Nazi soldiers into the lake near a small town in rural France. Now, the Nazis are rising from their watery grave to slowly attack the visiting basketball team. . . which is made up of a bunch of naked young French girls.Jean Rollin has brought us several good pieces of French cinema, like 'Fascination,' 'Living Dead Girl,' etc. 'Zombie Lake,' however, is not one of his better pieces. There really is only one reason to see this picture. . . if you have a strong attraction to hot young French women. And, let's face it. . . who doesn't? Everything about this film is sensual, like a lot of Rollin's work. Even the zombie attacks have a sensual feel to them. Beyond that one positive, there really isn't much else. The film is really quite dull, the acting is subpar, and the writing left a lot to be desired. Rollin's direction was apt, but there was more visible equipment than in 'Plan 9 from Outer Space.' When it comes down to it. . . there are plenty of other better films out there. If you're desperate for a good Underwater Nazi Zombie flick, check out 'Shock Waves' (1977).Final verdict: 3/10.-AP3-