The Treasure of the Living Dead (1982)
"La tumba de los muertos vivientes" (original title)

An expedition searching for treasure supposedly buried by the German army in the African desert during WW II comes up against an army of Nazi zombies guarding the fortune.

Director:

Jesús Franco

Writer:

Jesús Franco (screenplay)

Stars:

Manuel Gélin, France Lomay, Jeff Montgomery

Cast

Cast overview:
Manuel Gélin	...	Robert Blabert
France Lomay	...	Erika (as France Jordan)
Jeff Montgomery	...	Ben
Myriam Landson	...	Kurt's Wife
Eric Viellard	...	Ronald (as Eric Saint-Just)
Caroline Audret	...	Sylvie
Henri Lambert	...	Kurt (as Henry Lambert)

Storyline

During World War II, a small German squadron was assigned the task of carrying a shipment of Nazi gold across the African desert. Along the way, the squadron was ambushed by the Allies, and only one American soldier, Robert, survived. Years later, Robert tells his story to a German treasure hunter named Kurt, who promptly murders him. Robert's son, upon learning of his father's death, vows to travel to Africa and find the lost gold himself. While the desert is hazardous enough by itself, the dangers lurking around this oasis are more than any of the treasure hunters ever imagined.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | treasure | gold | oasis | nazi | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

21 April 1982 (France)

Also Known As:

Oasis of the Zombies

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eurociné

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Wuthering Heights (1939)

User Reviews

Pretty dang cruddy, but somewhat hypnotic

I watched this fully expecting, and even desiring a bad film, and happily a bad film is what I got, although it could have been a little more madcap for my liking. Oasis of the Zombies is a slow, often uneventful and somewhat inane film, but it has a curious mesmeric quality that kept me watching, often intrigued throughout. The music helped, it has a creeping atmospheric strangeness and it sounds as cheap as the film looks, thus complementing the images perfectly. The washed out print that I saw actually helped the imagery at times, making the colors sometimes slightly off and unreal looking. The acting is as low rent as it gets, as are the technical values and because of this there are many unintentional laughs to be had. I particularly liked the bit where a character mentions that it is night time and the insect noise on the soundtrack signifies this, but the scene is sufficiently well lit that it seems like merely late afternoon. Hearty hearty chuckles. For zombie fans there is little in the way of gore, but the zombies are pretty sweet, all decayed and insect ridden, a good gross appearance. Cheese fans are likely to love the flashback battle sequences and the fiery finish, although fans of zombies and cheese are likely to be put off by the slow pace. I really didn't mind this, it was my first Jess Franco picture, I had ultra low expectations and I found it watchable throughout, with some nice imagery, amusing dialogue and a couple of neato zombie attacks. The locations are cool, deserts, lots of sand, the oasis itself, and they make for a good setting for the action. Plus there are camels and who doesn't like camels? Most people seem to either outright really hate this one or try to enjoy it but end up saying it had potential but was still useless. Personally, I've seen far, far worse and I'd happily watch it again. Like another guy said, it effortlessly beats stuff like the abysmal Resident Evil or its sequels and its far more interesting than most big studio swill these days. So why not get a few icy cans of your brew of choice and check this out if you have the 85 minutes going. You might just like it.