A couple of days ago I watched Blood Glacier, an odd and very European take on the traditional creature feature á The Thing. I never seen anything like it, in some ways - and still it was extremely familiar. It takes courage to make a movie like that and therefore I had to see Rammbock, the one hour long take on zombie movies from 2010 - also directed by Marvin Kren of course. The English title is so silly I've stayed away from it - SIEGE OF THE DEAD - which makes it sound like yet another cheap-ass zombie film we've all seen before, but my buddy Jason loaned it to me the other day and there where was nothing stopping me anymore.
Michael (a very impressive performance by Michael Fuith) arrives to Berlin to give the keys to his ex-girlfriend Gabi. But just when he steps into the apartment a zombie epidemic breaks out and he's trapped there together with teenage boy in the same apartment and some other neighbours holding out on the opposite side of the courtyard. But Michael just wants to get in contact with Gabi. In the meantime the stories around him unfold, from infected neighbors to suicides.
Rammback is a darkly comedic - on the verge of not being comedic at all - tale of the undead that cleverly mixes European arty farty with traditional zombie mayhem. The strength in the story is the realistic characters, which is far from the typical stereotypes. Michael is a man somewhere between 30 and 40 who slowly is loosing his hair, obsessing over his girlfriend and just being very, very pointless. But when the zomes arrive he's probably more effective than he's ever been. Kren is always delivering everything we want to see in a movie like this, but it's still very far from any kind of clichés. How the hell does he do it?
Imagine a zombie movie partly shot like Hitchcock's Rear Window, but later feels more like the inside of a huge and bizarre - and pretty gruesome - dollhouse. It's a touching love story in the middle of it all, free from the normal stupidity. I love it when people dare to do something like this, to step outside the usual shit and do something different.
It feels - and looks - like a well-made European TV-movie, not just because of the length, but because of the focus on characters instead of gore (even if it has some of that to, don't worry!). It's not just a story about a zombie epidemic, it's about breaking up a relationship and realizing it never will be the same again. Or, to boilt it down to less words: to be a nice human being. That's powerful storytelling.
Rammbock is a mature and intelligent zombie movie, something we haven't seen in many years. It deserves a hug for being so good.
"A couple of days ago I watched Blood Glacier, an odd and very European take on the traditional creature feature á The Thing. I never seen anything like it, in some ways - and still it was extremely familiar."
You lucky bastard......I hate you.
"The English title is so silly I've stayed away from it - SIEGE OF THE DEAD - which makes it sound like yet another cheap-ass zombie film we've all seen before,"
Yeah, something that would be shown on cable......very late at night.
"Rammback is a darkly comedic - on the verge of not being comedic at all - tale of the undead that cleverly mixes European arty farty with traditional zombie mayhem. The strength in the story is the realistic characters, which is far from the typical stereotypes."
Some of these european zombie flicks has been good I think....Mutants(2009), La horde(2009)etc.
Sure, they got some flaws......but I liked them.
"Imagine a zombie movie partly shot like Hitchcock's Rear Window, but later feels more like the inside of a huge and bizarre - and pretty gruesome - dollhouse."
Smart move by Kren....staying on one location like that.
"It's not just a story about a zombie epidemic, it's about breaking up a relationship and realizing it never will be the same again. Or, to boilt it down to less words: to be a nice human being."
It has a nice message as well....
"Rammbock is a mature and intelligent zombie movie, something we haven't seen in many years. It deserves a hug for being so good."
Europe has produced some of these mature, zombie films, in latter years, I´m would love to see another one.
Good review and thanks Fred.
Posted by: Megatron | February 09, 2014 at 16:58