This is a horror film taking place in World War II Germany, in 1944 at a time when the German army is beginning to lose a lot of ground. At first glance, and for some other reason I cannot recall, I thought this was a movie about Nazis fighting zombies. Of course I wanted to see it! Nazis against zombies! I don't even need a plot or character development or depth of any kind with that kind of action. However, this is not really close to what the movie is about.
"The Bunker" focuses on, believe it or not, a military bunker. Several retreating German soldiers find their way to it and attempt to use it for a safe refuge from the advancing Yanksyou know, Americans. Inside the base the soldiers fight not zombies, but rampant paranoia and an evil presence influencing them. Now, this wasn't what I was expecting, but, it all worked out really well and was a pretty decent horror flick.
Here's the breakdown:
The Good:
--The atmosphere is thick and engrossing.
--Interesting supernatural story, fairly original.
--Feeling of paranoia runs rampant, and that's good for any horror film.
--Well acted.
--Good editing.
--Scenes that deal with the war itself are portrayed well.
--Excellent use of lighting, camera angles, fog, and cinematography.
Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help:
--So these are Nazis? We see only a single Nazi salute and very few swastikas. What gives?
--Possible misrepresentation on DVD package about what the film is actually about. (More a concern about the DVD than actual movie.)
--Music wasn't anything real special, but better than usual horror fare.
--Slowly paced, excellent build-up.
--Decent special effects when we see 'em.
The Bad:
--Again, I thought this was a zombie movie, the cover and description on the DVD case were somewhat confusing.
--Cheesy cover art. I know this doesn't represent the movie, per say, but it's cheesiness could cause it to be easily overlooked by movie-goers.
The Ugly:
--German uniforms are pretty damn inaccurate. I watch the History Channel about 4500 times a month, I know.
Okay then, I've stated a problem with the uniforms and how they look, the lack of swastikas, etc. There is not a total lack of swastikas, there are a few here and there, but you often have to be looking for them and then, ahhh that little black circle, there's a broken-armed cross in there Now, I understand that there are some European laws, which I don't fully understand, that don't allow the use of Swastikas in things such as movies and video games. From what I understand, the movie or game has to be made with historical accuracy in mind and since this was a horror film, I can understand what the problem may be. Still, the movie loses some strength and credibility because the uniforms aren't very accurate at all, in fact, the giant swastika armbands that we're all so used to seeing appear nowhere in this film.
This is also kind of a genre-bender. Blending horror films, ghost stories, and war movies together in one unique mish-mash of paranoid entertainment. Slow-paced as the film is, it is never-the-less assembled quite well. This blend feels a little odd, even to those of us used to seeing horror combined with stuff like comedy, this is still a new oddity. And since these are Nazis we're seeing, it's difficult to know who to root forthe cast is entirely made up of them. But that's where the story comes in, and it's wrapped around the bunker-based horror action pretty well. As it turns out, the characters we're seeing have depth and a past to them, which adds to the film quite nicely. Honestly, while I was disappointed that this wasn't the Nazi-zombie romp I had hoped for, it still was quite a nice war-horror movie, if flawed.
Acting: 7/10 Story: 8/10 Atmosphere: 9/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Character Development: 7/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 0/10 Violence/Gore: 7/10 (Very minor gore, mostly gun violence) Music: 7/10 Direction: 8/10
Cheesiness: 2/10 (WWII Nazis with British accents, come on!) Crappiness: 1/10
Overall: 7/10
This is recommended to horror buffs, especially those who enjoy war movies. War aficionados may be deeply annoyed by the lack of historical accuracy on the German uniforms, however. Not for everyone--casual movie-goers may not find anything here to enjoy.
( www.ResidentHazard.com ) ( http://bartboard.proboards3.com/index.cgi )
"The Bunker" focuses on, believe it or not, a military bunker. Several retreating German soldiers find their way to it and attempt to use it for a safe refuge from the advancing Yanksyou know, Americans. Inside the base the soldiers fight not zombies, but rampant paranoia and an evil presence influencing them. Now, this wasn't what I was expecting, but, it all worked out really well and was a pretty decent horror flick.
Here's the breakdown:
The Good:
--The atmosphere is thick and engrossing.
--Interesting supernatural story, fairly original.
--Feeling of paranoia runs rampant, and that's good for any horror film.
--Well acted.
--Good editing.
--Scenes that deal with the war itself are portrayed well.
--Excellent use of lighting, camera angles, fog, and cinematography.
Didn't Hurt It, Didn't Help:
--So these are Nazis? We see only a single Nazi salute and very few swastikas. What gives?
--Possible misrepresentation on DVD package about what the film is actually about. (More a concern about the DVD than actual movie.)
--Music wasn't anything real special, but better than usual horror fare.
--Slowly paced, excellent build-up.
--Decent special effects when we see 'em.
The Bad:
--Again, I thought this was a zombie movie, the cover and description on the DVD case were somewhat confusing.
--Cheesy cover art. I know this doesn't represent the movie, per say, but it's cheesiness could cause it to be easily overlooked by movie-goers.
The Ugly:
--German uniforms are pretty damn inaccurate. I watch the History Channel about 4500 times a month, I know.
Okay then, I've stated a problem with the uniforms and how they look, the lack of swastikas, etc. There is not a total lack of swastikas, there are a few here and there, but you often have to be looking for them and then, ahhh that little black circle, there's a broken-armed cross in there Now, I understand that there are some European laws, which I don't fully understand, that don't allow the use of Swastikas in things such as movies and video games. From what I understand, the movie or game has to be made with historical accuracy in mind and since this was a horror film, I can understand what the problem may be. Still, the movie loses some strength and credibility because the uniforms aren't very accurate at all, in fact, the giant swastika armbands that we're all so used to seeing appear nowhere in this film.
This is also kind of a genre-bender. Blending horror films, ghost stories, and war movies together in one unique mish-mash of paranoid entertainment. Slow-paced as the film is, it is never-the-less assembled quite well. This blend feels a little odd, even to those of us used to seeing horror combined with stuff like comedy, this is still a new oddity. And since these are Nazis we're seeing, it's difficult to know who to root forthe cast is entirely made up of them. But that's where the story comes in, and it's wrapped around the bunker-based horror action pretty well. As it turns out, the characters we're seeing have depth and a past to them, which adds to the film quite nicely. Honestly, while I was disappointed that this wasn't the Nazi-zombie romp I had hoped for, it still was quite a nice war-horror movie, if flawed.
Acting: 7/10 Story: 8/10 Atmosphere: 9/10 Cinematography: 8/10 Character Development: 7/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 7/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 0/10 Violence/Gore: 7/10 (Very minor gore, mostly gun violence) Music: 7/10 Direction: 8/10
Cheesiness: 2/10 (WWII Nazis with British accents, come on!) Crappiness: 1/10
Overall: 7/10
This is recommended to horror buffs, especially those who enjoy war movies. War aficionados may be deeply annoyed by the lack of historical accuracy on the German uniforms, however. Not for everyone--casual movie-goers may not find anything here to enjoy.
( www.ResidentHazard.com ) ( http://bartboard.proboards3.com/index.cgi )