Format: Online video on Fire!
It does often feel like the zombie subgenre of horror films is played out, and then you run across something that does a couple of things different. Such a case is that of Rammbock, also known as Rammbock: Berlin Undead, and sometimes as Siege of the Dead. I was unable to watch this in the best of circumstances—I could only find a dubbed version online, and I would imagine that it being fully in its native German would only help it. Rammbock (which translates to “battering ram”) has its issues, but it’s pretty solid for what it is.
The basics of the zombie film were set in place with Romero’s film in 1968. Zombies, more technically ghouls, are the recently dead returned to unlife, mindless and craving the flesh of the living. Anyone bitten will turn into a zombie, since the virus/bacteria/whatever that creates the zombies in the first place is guaranteed to be eventually fatal. This is a reality that is included in zombie-adjacent films like 28 Days Later, where the “zombies” aren’t actually undead, but are otherwise the same as the standard cinematic zombie.
We’re going to start from there with Rammbock, but we will toss in a few curveballs. The first of these is that being bitten is an eventual death sentence, but not an immediate one, or even necessarily a quick one. Someone bitten will carry the virus/plague/whatever, but will only turn when the victim becomes agitated or has a burst of adrenaline. So, someone who remains tranquilized or simply stays calm could, at least in theory, stave off turning indefinitely. Second, our zombies in this film are going to be light-sensitive, so bright lights, and especially flashing ones, will be a means of temporary defense.
A horror movie frequently lives and dies (no pun intended) on the person or people we are going to be following. We have to care about them at least a little bit for us to care about the resolution of the movie. In this case, we’re given Michael (Michael Fuith), who has recently been broken up with by his girlfriend Gabi (Anka Graczyk). Michael wants to save the relationship if he can, and at the very least wants to return Gabi’s apartment keys to her. What he finds at her apartment instead is a couple of repairmen, and no Gabi.
Outside, a virus has started to take hold of the population of Berlin. It’s reminiscent of the Rage virus from 28 Days Later, but as mentioned, the infected only turn with a burst in adrenaline. We’re greeted by this reality when the older repairman turns while straining to make a repair. Faced with the new reality, Michael and the younger repairman, Harper (Theo Trebs) decide to barricade themselves in to keep themselves safe.
What happens from here is fairly predictable, but slightly different from the normal zombie apocalypse. The basic needs in a zombie film are ammunition, food, water, and shelter. In this case, we have a few added needs. One is anything that can cause bright lights, which can temporarily stun the zombies. The second, and this becomes a large part of the subsequent film, is tranquilizers or anything that can keep someone calm. Ultimately, the goal is for people to get out of the apartment complex, and Michael still has the goal of reuniting with Gabi or at least finding out what went wrong.
The biggest issue with Rammbock is, surprisingly, a lack of ambition in a film that has a great deal of ambition in doing something new with the subgenre. Most zombie films are content to essentially keep doing the same thing over and over, giving us just more insane situations, crazier kills, more disturbing scenes. Rammbock really wanted to give us something new and different, at least in the way the zombies are created and can be defended against. That being the case, it’s a disappointment that this is only a touch over an hour long. The ideas here could easily sustain another 30 minutes. With anything new brought into the subgenre, you have a bit more space to play with the basic clichés, and there’s enough room here that more could be played with.
Rammbock falls short of being a great movie. It is a good one, though, and it’s worth seeing if only because of what it brings to an overloaded subgenre.
Why to watch Rammbock: It’s zombie terror in a compressed package.
Why not to watch: There’s a lot here—enough that this could easily be 50% longer.
So it's kind of mid huh?
ReplyDeleteKind of? I think it's decent. I just want it to be 90 minutes, but it feels like they ran out of stuff to do with it. There's a lot here that could be drawn out a bit more or not happen as frenetically, but for what it is, it's decent.
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