Nazi Undead is a horror story about two young sweethearts on a trip through Germany where they encounter the spirit of a dead SS officer. The beginning of the film describes the Nazi concept of Lebensraum, living space that was needed for the German people. The film asks the question what would happen if someone unwanted entered the German living space - unfortunately the film does nothing to answer this question.
The story begins with the young couple leaving from their hotel to drive out to a local castle for sightseeing. On a lonely stretch of road, they believe they have hit a young girl, after which their car fails to start (what is it with people in horror stories having their car breakdown on a lonely stretch of road?). They start out on foot towards a lone house, where they encounter the angry spirit of a deceased SS officer. It appears the basic premise is that during WW2 the Nazi officer believed his wife was unfaithful and that his two daughters were illegitimate. In a fit of rage, he kills them all and then turns the gun on himself. Why he has now returned and what the purpose of his haunting is remains a mystery throughout the movie.
Only minutes into the film, just after the couple's car breaks down, we are treated to rapid flashes of scenes of ghostly haunting - the Nazi officer and his murdered family. It is impossible to tell if these are replays of the past, future premonitions, nor if they can be seen by the characters or not. When the couple first enters the house the young man steps into a dark room and runs out only seconds later proclaiming, "there is a dead SS officer on the bed!". The ghoul in question is wearing the uniform of an Oberfuhrer. One would need to be a serious student in military history to recognize this person as an officer in the Nazi SS (holding a rank of Sr. Colonel). Would a young American millennial be able to identify this in a matter of seconds in a dark room? Not a chance. The confusion only grows from here.
The film progresses as the couple moves through the house experiencing scenes of hauntings and appearances of ghouls from the family. How much of this is real or not is impossible to tell. When you believe there is an end and one member of the couple is brutally killed, the characters then appear back in their stalled car as if nothing has happened. The story repeats, with minor changes in events. This cycle of rise, wash, repeat occurs multiple times. Each time the couple makes increasing bad choices. It seems that in every horror movie the characters make bad choices, like the slasher movies where the frightened teenagers arm themselves with flashlights and hide behind running chainsaws. At the end we flash back to the very start with the young couple leaving their hotel for a sightseeing tour. What just happened, was any of this real, and what is the point of the ghoulish SS officer, remains a baffling mystery all through the movie.
The characters exhibited over the top dramatic acting and engaged in actions and conversations that seemed to defy any logic for a person in a similar situation. While the portrayal of ghosts and ghouls was well done, their appearance made little sense. The two murdered girls appear standing together in their white nightgown multiple times. This had all the appearance of a bad remake of "The Shining". I was expecting these two girls to say, "Come play with us Danny", followed by writing "Redrum" on the wall. The one redeeming aspect of the movie was their skilled use of images and makeup rather than the cheap horror thrill of blood and guts. Unfortunately, this alone wasn't enough to save this movie, the story frankly made zero sense. It was as if the producers said, "Hey, we have ghosts, ghouls and Nazis. That's a winning formula!". Well not exactly. You need a story behind it, and this film didn't have any.
The story begins with the young couple leaving from their hotel to drive out to a local castle for sightseeing. On a lonely stretch of road, they believe they have hit a young girl, after which their car fails to start (what is it with people in horror stories having their car breakdown on a lonely stretch of road?). They start out on foot towards a lone house, where they encounter the angry spirit of a deceased SS officer. It appears the basic premise is that during WW2 the Nazi officer believed his wife was unfaithful and that his two daughters were illegitimate. In a fit of rage, he kills them all and then turns the gun on himself. Why he has now returned and what the purpose of his haunting is remains a mystery throughout the movie.
Only minutes into the film, just after the couple's car breaks down, we are treated to rapid flashes of scenes of ghostly haunting - the Nazi officer and his murdered family. It is impossible to tell if these are replays of the past, future premonitions, nor if they can be seen by the characters or not. When the couple first enters the house the young man steps into a dark room and runs out only seconds later proclaiming, "there is a dead SS officer on the bed!". The ghoul in question is wearing the uniform of an Oberfuhrer. One would need to be a serious student in military history to recognize this person as an officer in the Nazi SS (holding a rank of Sr. Colonel). Would a young American millennial be able to identify this in a matter of seconds in a dark room? Not a chance. The confusion only grows from here.
The film progresses as the couple moves through the house experiencing scenes of hauntings and appearances of ghouls from the family. How much of this is real or not is impossible to tell. When you believe there is an end and one member of the couple is brutally killed, the characters then appear back in their stalled car as if nothing has happened. The story repeats, with minor changes in events. This cycle of rise, wash, repeat occurs multiple times. Each time the couple makes increasing bad choices. It seems that in every horror movie the characters make bad choices, like the slasher movies where the frightened teenagers arm themselves with flashlights and hide behind running chainsaws. At the end we flash back to the very start with the young couple leaving their hotel for a sightseeing tour. What just happened, was any of this real, and what is the point of the ghoulish SS officer, remains a baffling mystery all through the movie.
The characters exhibited over the top dramatic acting and engaged in actions and conversations that seemed to defy any logic for a person in a similar situation. While the portrayal of ghosts and ghouls was well done, their appearance made little sense. The two murdered girls appear standing together in their white nightgown multiple times. This had all the appearance of a bad remake of "The Shining". I was expecting these two girls to say, "Come play with us Danny", followed by writing "Redrum" on the wall. The one redeeming aspect of the movie was their skilled use of images and makeup rather than the cheap horror thrill of blood and guts. Unfortunately, this alone wasn't enough to save this movie, the story frankly made zero sense. It was as if the producers said, "Hey, we have ghosts, ghouls and Nazis. That's a winning formula!". Well not exactly. You need a story behind it, and this film didn't have any.