To my knowledge, Shock Waves has the distinction of being the first bona fide Nazi Zombie movie (a couple of films dallied with the idea in the forties and fifties, but they don't really count). It's a concept that has proved rather popular with horror film-makers over the years, with titles like Zombie Lake, Oasis of the Zombies, Outpost, and Dead Snow amongst those that have appropriated the idea. But just because it was the first, doesn't make it any good.
The film's prologue recounts how the Nazis conducted bizarre experiments during WWII, exploring the supernatural in the pursuit of creating an invincible army of the undead. The film then cuts to the present as a catatonic woman, Rose (Brooke Adams), is rescued from a dinghy found adrift in the sea. The rest of the film is a flashback, in which we learn that Rose is the only survivor of a group shipwrecked on a remote island after their pleasure cruise collides with a freighter in the night. As if that wasn't bad enough, a strange solar phenomenon has awoken the long dormant Nazi zombies that lurk at the bottom of the sea.
The problem with Shock Waves is that it really doesn't do anything of interest with its promising premise, with a long, tedious build up to the arrival on the island, followed by lots of aimless and extremely boring meandering through swamps and undergrowth, and a succession of rather dull and completely bloodless deaths. Peter Cushing crops up as the German officer in charge of creating the 'Death Corps', but is given very little to do, and John Carradine plays the salty sea captain of the damaged boat, but even the presence of these two horror legends cannot save this one from being a total waste of time.
The film's prologue recounts how the Nazis conducted bizarre experiments during WWII, exploring the supernatural in the pursuit of creating an invincible army of the undead. The film then cuts to the present as a catatonic woman, Rose (Brooke Adams), is rescued from a dinghy found adrift in the sea. The rest of the film is a flashback, in which we learn that Rose is the only survivor of a group shipwrecked on a remote island after their pleasure cruise collides with a freighter in the night. As if that wasn't bad enough, a strange solar phenomenon has awoken the long dormant Nazi zombies that lurk at the bottom of the sea.
The problem with Shock Waves is that it really doesn't do anything of interest with its promising premise, with a long, tedious build up to the arrival on the island, followed by lots of aimless and extremely boring meandering through swamps and undergrowth, and a succession of rather dull and completely bloodless deaths. Peter Cushing crops up as the German officer in charge of creating the 'Death Corps', but is given very little to do, and John Carradine plays the salty sea captain of the damaged boat, but even the presence of these two horror legends cannot save this one from being a total waste of time.