Director – Martin Faltermeier (In the Name of Gore)
Starring – Judith Gorgass (Room 67), Florian Kiml (Mountain Medic), and Siegfried Foster (The Seed of Discord)
Release Date – 2012
Rating – 2/5
Tagline – “They do not come in peace”
Since the release of the AMC showThe Walking Dead we have seen an abundance of zombie flicks hit the store shelves since 2010. At first, this was a change that I absolutely loved. When I first noticed that horror was the genre for me I quickly started watching zombie flicks with the obvious films of choice belonging to Romero’s classics. Sadly, these films started out awesome but over time it just became the same story over and over again resulting in wasted money from the zombie fan.
With that being said, whenever I come across a zombie flick that sets itself apart from the others I have to see it no matter how sick I am of the current craze. Recently, Olive Films announced the news that they would be releasing the 2012 German zombie film Zombies from Outer Space. I reached out to them and they were nice enough to send me a review copy. Thanks Olive!
**Spoiler Alert**The film takes place in 1947 in a small German town with a military base nearby. A rash of murders shock the local population and the local scientists is baffled. The only thing he can find wrong with them is some strange marks on the deceased nipples. The murders coincide with a string of crop circles that have been popping up in fields all over the town.
The military discover a UFO while inspecting a crop circle. They soon discover that the deaths are from the hands of zombies from outer space.**Spoiler Alert**
It is rare to come across a zombie flick released after 2010 that does not follow the same story set forth in The Walking Dead. When a zombie film is released and they use a different story then I have to see it to get my zombie fix without being subjected to shitty horror flicks. When I learned thatZombies from Outer Space was a throwback film to the time when sci-fi adventure flicks ruled the drive-ins, I had to see it. However, the film was a huge let down.
The acting in this one is all over the place. In some scenes we get goofy characters that feel like something we would find in a Troma flick. However, in other scenes we are given characters that are serious in tone that clash horribly with the goofy characters. The film is also in German for the most part but several scenes have English dialogue which catches the viewer off guard when they expect to see subtitles and may not notice the language change.
The story for this one is a nod to the late 50s when sci-fi invasion films ruled the drive-ins of yesteryear. The story is solid and would have been one hell of a good time if the story didn’t fall prey to unnecessary scenes that are full of some of the worst dialogue I have seen in a film. This makes the film a fucking chore to watch and even hard to follow when you have to read most of the character’s interactions.
Finally, the film is full of indie great practical effects, as well as, visual effects but they are wasted on a slow rolling story that fails to gain any momentum. Overall, Zombies from Outer Space is a failed film that could have been a piece of modern cinema that takes us back to a cherished time in film history. I can not recommend this one!
