RR already has an excellent review of this on the main site but here's my take on the DVD for what it's worth.
Shock Waves
Review by Floydian Trip
Starring: Brooke Adams (The Dead Zone), Luke Halpin (Flipper), John Carradine (The Howling) and Peter Cushing (Star Wars)
Directed by Ken Wiederhorn (Return of the Living Dead Part II)
Written by John Kent Harrison (Helen of Troy), Ken Pare and Ken Wiederhorn
The Movie:
This zombie flick from ZOPIX, get it zombie pictures, released in 1977 is a classic. Shock Waves is an independent horror film made with a budget of $200,000. It’s no Romero film but in its own rights deserves to be mentioned with the best of the zombie sub-genre. As far as the DVD as a whole goes it may not have as many extras as most these days but what it does have definitely adds up to a disc that any fan or collector of horror will enjoy.
Just before WWII the German High Command began secret investigations into the supernatural. There was a legend that told of warriors who possessed superhuman strength but fought with neither weapons nor shields and derived their power from the Earth. The SS enlisted a group of scientists’ to begin work on creating an invincible soldier. Bodies of soldiers killed in action were taken to a secret laboratory for use in scientific experiments. Toward the end of the war allied forces were reported to have met with a German squad who killed only with their bare hands. Turns out not one member of this squad was ever captured or found. This is the back story told in front of a snapshot of a group of German soldiers slowly panning out in the opening sequence. This part of the story was actually added after the movie was completed because people kept asking them if the zombie soldiers were based on real people.
The rest of the story revolves around a group of people who have chartered a boat only to have to eventually abandon said charter boat and find shelter on a deserted island in an abandoned resort. Enter aquatic-Nazi zombies. The plot is pretty typical 70’s era horror. It’d be great to see movies this simple again every once in awhile. The zombies in this one, known as The Death Corp, aren’t typical in any way, however. They aren’t flesh eating, mindless or slow and shambling. They aren’t fast and spastic either. The zombies of Shock Waves are calculating and methodical. Their mission is to exterminate and that’s what they are focused on. They are an elite Special Forces unit after all. The make-up effects are pretty well done while keeping simple with the Corp spending a lot of time entering and leaving the water which is just cool. Even with such a simple plot and first-time filmmakers the acting is very good while not going over the top. It might not be the most intense or action-packed horror flick around but it’s damn entertaining and well paced.
If you like a lot gore served with your zombie movies, who doesn’t, and expect them to be on Romero’s or Fulci’s level then this might not come off so well. There is no gore whatsoever. I’m thinking that even in 1977 $200,000 wasn’t a whole lot of money to make a feature length film with even when it only costs $5,000 each for Carradine and Cushing so it wasn’t in the budget to go all out on FX. What it does have is an interesting, different approach to zombies with a completely believable, reasonable back story. The acting as I mentioned is very good and even though there is no gore the zombies, who prefer to be underwater, look good and not at all cheesy. The locations are great and after listening to the commentary it’s amazing how the film feels in the end knowing where the actual sets were located. The deaths in this one aren’t your typical zombie flick death scenes either. They’re pretty simple and over very quickly. Had this been a big-budget production that would have definitely been a problem but taken for what it is, an indie flick, I had no problem with it and the lack of disembowelings and/or decapitations didn’t phase me in the least.
Picture:
The picture quality is pretty rough even for a film made in the late 70’s. Lots of artifacts, graininess and an oversaturated look make it a little hard on the eyes but for what it is it fits and is acceptable. I wouldn’t suspect they’d want to spend a lot of money on remastering this unless it suddenly came into high demand. It would be nice to see it happen someday. Perhaps when the sequel is finally made?
Sound:
The score is simple, Carpenter-like keyboards but is used to perfect effect and matches the type of movie this is. It’s in mono but again when it’s the track for a film made in 1977 it’s fine.
Extras:
As much as I enjoyed the movie the commentary adds much value to the DVD. For anyone interested in filmmaking or indie films in general it is very insightful and informative. They look back on making this movie with obvious fond memories of the good and challenging times they had. They divulge a ton of interesting facts and observations and collectively relate it all as if they just wrapped up production. A lot of commentaries of older films don’t quite have the same impact because so much is forgotten or those that are doing the commentary just aren’t as interested in the source material as they were when it was made if they were even interested then.
The few other extras are an 8 minute interview with actor Luke Halpin, the trailer, TV spot, 2 radio spots and a photo gallery. It is all interesting as Luke Halpin suggests the desire to make the sequel in his interview and the radio spots are a blast. The photo gallery has a lot of interesting pics from the shoot as well as the different poster art from around the world and newspaper adds from the movie section where Shock Waves spent a lot of time in the theatre with Tentacle.
Packaging:
Your typical Blue Underground DVD with nothing too spectacular about it but at least it does have a copy of the movie poster on the inside of the case.
I’ll temper my serious enjoyment of this film with solid average scores because I know there are many people that might disagree with anything higher and also the fact that I might appreciate horror movies a little too much for my own good.
‘Shock Waves’ is in the least worthy of a rental but for serious horror fans a definite plus to the collection.
Even the trailers and spots are cool in an old-school way….
From beyond the dead, from beneath the living, from the depths of hells’ ocean, everything they touch will die in the deep.
The faster you run, the quicker you die because once they were almost human.
Shock Waves, the deep-end of horror.
Movie: 4 of 5
DVD: 3 of 5
Shock Waves
Review by Floydian Trip
Starring: Brooke Adams (The Dead Zone), Luke Halpin (Flipper), John Carradine (The Howling) and Peter Cushing (Star Wars)
Directed by Ken Wiederhorn (Return of the Living Dead Part II)
Written by John Kent Harrison (Helen of Troy), Ken Pare and Ken Wiederhorn
The Movie:
This zombie flick from ZOPIX, get it zombie pictures, released in 1977 is a classic. Shock Waves is an independent horror film made with a budget of $200,000. It’s no Romero film but in its own rights deserves to be mentioned with the best of the zombie sub-genre. As far as the DVD as a whole goes it may not have as many extras as most these days but what it does have definitely adds up to a disc that any fan or collector of horror will enjoy.
Just before WWII the German High Command began secret investigations into the supernatural. There was a legend that told of warriors who possessed superhuman strength but fought with neither weapons nor shields and derived their power from the Earth. The SS enlisted a group of scientists’ to begin work on creating an invincible soldier. Bodies of soldiers killed in action were taken to a secret laboratory for use in scientific experiments. Toward the end of the war allied forces were reported to have met with a German squad who killed only with their bare hands. Turns out not one member of this squad was ever captured or found. This is the back story told in front of a snapshot of a group of German soldiers slowly panning out in the opening sequence. This part of the story was actually added after the movie was completed because people kept asking them if the zombie soldiers were based on real people.
The rest of the story revolves around a group of people who have chartered a boat only to have to eventually abandon said charter boat and find shelter on a deserted island in an abandoned resort. Enter aquatic-Nazi zombies. The plot is pretty typical 70’s era horror. It’d be great to see movies this simple again every once in awhile. The zombies in this one, known as The Death Corp, aren’t typical in any way, however. They aren’t flesh eating, mindless or slow and shambling. They aren’t fast and spastic either. The zombies of Shock Waves are calculating and methodical. Their mission is to exterminate and that’s what they are focused on. They are an elite Special Forces unit after all. The make-up effects are pretty well done while keeping simple with the Corp spending a lot of time entering and leaving the water which is just cool. Even with such a simple plot and first-time filmmakers the acting is very good while not going over the top. It might not be the most intense or action-packed horror flick around but it’s damn entertaining and well paced.
If you like a lot gore served with your zombie movies, who doesn’t, and expect them to be on Romero’s or Fulci’s level then this might not come off so well. There is no gore whatsoever. I’m thinking that even in 1977 $200,000 wasn’t a whole lot of money to make a feature length film with even when it only costs $5,000 each for Carradine and Cushing so it wasn’t in the budget to go all out on FX. What it does have is an interesting, different approach to zombies with a completely believable, reasonable back story. The acting as I mentioned is very good and even though there is no gore the zombies, who prefer to be underwater, look good and not at all cheesy. The locations are great and after listening to the commentary it’s amazing how the film feels in the end knowing where the actual sets were located. The deaths in this one aren’t your typical zombie flick death scenes either. They’re pretty simple and over very quickly. Had this been a big-budget production that would have definitely been a problem but taken for what it is, an indie flick, I had no problem with it and the lack of disembowelings and/or decapitations didn’t phase me in the least.
Picture:
The picture quality is pretty rough even for a film made in the late 70’s. Lots of artifacts, graininess and an oversaturated look make it a little hard on the eyes but for what it is it fits and is acceptable. I wouldn’t suspect they’d want to spend a lot of money on remastering this unless it suddenly came into high demand. It would be nice to see it happen someday. Perhaps when the sequel is finally made?
Sound:
The score is simple, Carpenter-like keyboards but is used to perfect effect and matches the type of movie this is. It’s in mono but again when it’s the track for a film made in 1977 it’s fine.
Extras:
As much as I enjoyed the movie the commentary adds much value to the DVD. For anyone interested in filmmaking or indie films in general it is very insightful and informative. They look back on making this movie with obvious fond memories of the good and challenging times they had. They divulge a ton of interesting facts and observations and collectively relate it all as if they just wrapped up production. A lot of commentaries of older films don’t quite have the same impact because so much is forgotten or those that are doing the commentary just aren’t as interested in the source material as they were when it was made if they were even interested then.
The few other extras are an 8 minute interview with actor Luke Halpin, the trailer, TV spot, 2 radio spots and a photo gallery. It is all interesting as Luke Halpin suggests the desire to make the sequel in his interview and the radio spots are a blast. The photo gallery has a lot of interesting pics from the shoot as well as the different poster art from around the world and newspaper adds from the movie section where Shock Waves spent a lot of time in the theatre with Tentacle.
Packaging:
Your typical Blue Underground DVD with nothing too spectacular about it but at least it does have a copy of the movie poster on the inside of the case.
I’ll temper my serious enjoyment of this film with solid average scores because I know there are many people that might disagree with anything higher and also the fact that I might appreciate horror movies a little too much for my own good.
‘Shock Waves’ is in the least worthy of a rental but for serious horror fans a definite plus to the collection.
Even the trailers and spots are cool in an old-school way….
From beyond the dead, from beneath the living, from the depths of hells’ ocean, everything they touch will die in the deep.
The faster you run, the quicker you die because once they were almost human.
Shock Waves, the deep-end of horror.
Movie: 4 of 5
DVD: 3 of 5
)
