Iron Sky

IRON SKY

Directed by: Timo Vuorensola

Finland, Germany, Australia, 2012

Sci-fi/Comedy/Drama, 93 min

In a near future, 2018 to be precise, an American venture to the moon stumbles over a secret that’s been lurking on the dark side of the moon for seventy years! After their defeat during the second world war, the Third Reich have been hiding out of sight on the back of the moon. There they have been tending to their wounds, licking their sores and preparing to rise again. Now regrouped, restructured and full of faith, The Fourth Reich is ready to reclaim their earth!

I really got a kick out of Iron Sky, and it’s already on my list of movies that I need to see again! Unlike the so-so curiosity it could have been, it’s a Wagnerian blitzkrieg, taking its public on a captivating ride through action, lust, love, power and greed, but still managing to deliver a message to its audience.

Characters are presented in a straight and stern manner, polarizing good guys from bad guys. The Nazis come with their historic luggage and you get the badass vibe from their strict and futuristic storm trooper suits already in the first four minutes. The use of Nazis in any form is a great move, as this does two things in the blink of an eye.

One: you need not waste time on backstory – we all know that the Nazis where amongst the evilest form - take a look at Mike Mignola’s early Hellboy comics or even the first Guillermo Del Toro movie of the same comic, Kroenen and Ilsa Hauptstein don't just look awesome, we know from the word go that he's gonna be a bad ass, because they are Nazis! Look at Michael Mann’s The Keep 1983, or even read the original source – superior to the movie – written by F. Paul Wilson in 1981, Ken Weiderhorn’s Shock Waves 1977 or even contemporary stuff like Steve Barker's Outpost 2008… you get the jest, no need for backstory, just get right in there and let the Nazis stir shit up.

Two: you present a threat that comes with all the trimmings in one go. There’s no need to explain what they are, their genesis or even set rules for the antagonist. They are Nazis it doesn’t get any easier. Adding the pizazz of Nazis hiding behind the moon for seventy years is just sheer genius on the behalf of originators Johanna Sinisalo, Jarmo Puskala and screenwriter Michael Kalesniko. Not forgetting director Timo Vuorensola for bringing it all to life.

The Stormtroopers are led by Führer to be Klaus Adler [Götz Otto], also introduced in the first few minutes, hell, even the Führer himself Wolfgang Kortzfleich [the majestic and iconic Udo Kier] is posed against the heroic character James Washington [Christopher Kirby] immediately after the bombastic opening titles with their hard electronic Laibach score. Which leads us to the main character of the piece Renate Richter [Julia Dietze] Richter is presented in a fashion that shows the audience the conscious and determined brainwashing of both her, and the generation of Nazi youth that she educates in her work as school teacher. In her world the message of the fourth Reich is Love and understanding. To such a degree that when she show’s her students “Chaplin’s most famous short movie” it’s The Great Dictator 1940, cut down to a ten minute shape, only showing the dictator at his happiest and most peaceful, like playing with the globe balloon… It’s a smart and intelligent way of explaining what has been going on and the indoctrination taking place on the back of the moon for the last seventy years.

This all changes when the Space Nazis are forced down to earth to take part of new technology. Captured Astronaut Washington’s modern day cell phone manages to bring a spark of life into the Götterdämmerung – the largest of all the spaceships hidden in the darkness of the moon. Alder see’s his chance to side step the current leader and take his rightful place as Führer through a daring mission to earth to find more “computer plates” as to prepare the invasion. With the aid of Washington they take off for earth and upon arrival realize that Renate has snuck on-board the spaceship… time for culture crash, and moral awakening.

The Nazi’s become the focus of Vivian Wagner [Peta Sergeant] a razor sharp, no bull public relations advisor to the President of the United States of America [Stephanie Paul] – an obvious Sarah Palin gag. With the attention comes hubris, and Renate soon has a terribly rude awakening, whilst Adler, who in his turn has been playing Wagner for his own needs, slowly moves towards his plan of becoming Führer and invading earth.

Despite all the intrigue, action sequences, space battles and ironic comments, Iron Sky still manages to deliver a biting satire over the US, and other leading countries exploitation of new sources, and the greed that comes with it. In Iron Sky the object of desire is Helium 3, and despite claiming that sending an African-American to the moon will help popularize the residing female president, it’s the Helium 3 they are really after. It’s a great move to have the female president cheer as she realizes that going to war always guarantees a second period of presidency, and a comedic moment which is way to close to reality to really be laughed at.

What surprised me the most with the movie, is that when you look at the heart of Iron Sky, you find a quite tender, but at the same time gloomy, tale of morale! If there’s a message to take with you after a viewing it’s that revenge is messy and only leads to further violence. Violence of the most nihilistic kind of way, Because notwithstanding the laughs that have been obtained during the ninety minutes of Iron Sky, and despite the clear polarization of Nazis versus so called good guys, there’s a stern finger pointed at us the citizens of modern age… a warning is given much more threatening than Space Wehrmacht hiding behind the moon!

But the road there is hilarious. It’s Mars Attacks 1996 versus Where Eagles Dare 1968 seen through a filter of Steam Punk, live action Animation and the films of Jeunet and Caro, coming out in a result which is undoubtedly the most kick ass Space Nazi invasion film ever made!

When Iron Sky hit’s home video I challenge you all to a movie referent drinking game, because it’s loaded with them. Heck there’s even a gag where that viral “Hitler get’s angry” scene from Oliver Hirshbiegel’s Der Untergang (Downfall 2004 – in which Götz Otto had a part), is mimicked. Working that gag in there is hilarious, and one of many great laughs.

I recall hearing about Iron Sky back in the early 2000’s when Richard Raphoorst’s eagery awaited fan financed project Worst Case Scenario folded and went down in flames. Just like that one, I was never expecting to really see Iron Sky, despite my mates coming back from Cannes with great stories of Nazi clothed hostesses promoting the movie at some of the greatest parties they’d been to. But never the less, it's here and it's a fact, Iron Sky is a winner; it looks amazing and was definitely worth the semi decade wait! Iron Sky is the hidden behind the moon movie of the decade and The Götterdämmerung puts those god-awful Cybertronian pieces of shit from that “Makes-no-sense” Michael Bay flick from last year to real shame!

Heil Iron Sky!

Ratline

Ratline

Directed by: Eric Stanze

USA, 2011

Drama/Horror/Exploitation, 109min

Distributed by: Wicked Pixel Cinema

If you write that your movie is about Nazi Occultism on the cover art, I will watch it. I have an intense soft spot for Nazi’s and the paranormal – and why not, it’s so goddamned out there. I love the Third Reich’s fascination with the occult. I have done so since Spielberg and Lucas made a Saturday morning matinée about the krauts obsession with the supernatural. If you also happen to be an indie filmmaker, with some really interesting movies on your resume, then I will undoubtedly watch.

To set up the story of Ratline, it would be easiest to say that the movie is about the hunt for an old Nazi flag referred to as “Die Blutfahne”, a mythical swastika flag that went missing at the end of the Second World War. The only surviving member of the SS Paranormal Division is now seeking the flag with the intentions of completing the rituals that have been brewing for decades.

The main selling point of Ratline is obviously the Nazi connection, the promise of grotesque entertainment and spontaneous nudity along the way - as you will see from the trailer below. It’s all there, but Ratline serves up something much more than just an average exploitation flick. It shoves itself way beyond simple conventions and presents an intriguing and engaging story that delivers some severe shocks in it’s final act.

So, instead of going where convention predicts, Ratline tells the story of several characters and how their paths cross along the road of life. The initial set up creates a mood for the flick, as a bloodied, post-heist Crystal [Stanze regular Emily Haack, looking better than ever] burns her clothes and cleans up before hitting the road again – this woman is on the go. Cut to opening credits, which pass by rapidly as a metaphorical escape from the starting point, only to land in a Satanic Cult preparing their ritual. We stick with the youngsters for a while, and you would think you know who the leading characters are by now. But when the Satanic Cult, now on the roam for a human to sacrifice, fail to snare Crystal in their sinister trap, the focus shifts to a lone man peacefully driving his truck down the road. The kids lure him in, and moments later he’s tied up and ready to meet his maker as the kids tell him that he will be Satan’s sacrifice tonight.

A twist in the same form as the classic Psycho twist topples the world we have been introduced to. Where storytelling guru Robert McKee would shout out negation of the negation, Stanze and Christ thrust it full speed up that street. The entire opening set up with the teenagers performing a mock “this is what we think it’s supposed to be like” satanic ritual, and getting carried away to the extent of performing a human sacrifice becomes superbly ironic as they stare into the face of death in the shape of Frank Logan, [co-writer Jason Christ, also a frequent Stanze collaborator] a supernatural übermench who’s all the kids imagine themselves to be, amplified thrice.

For most of the first half of the movie, the ordinary world is established; characters present themselves and reveal their traits. Subplots are introduced, Penny Webb [Sarah Swofford] is presented, we gain insight into the backstory of Crystal, and the very real threat that she has pending over her life. It's a slow build, but it's necessary for where Stanze is going to take us.

But so far there are no characters that I really care about. They may interest me, but they primarily go about their business and where ever the day takes them. Their lives are woven together as their paths intersect and I find myself wondering where it’s all going to go… after all I do have some presumptions of the characters and what they may get up to. Somewhere just past midpoint – [59minutes] the first of many reveals is presented. First it’s the genesis of the Blood Flag, the item that Frank has been hunting through the movie, and the Nazi thread of the movie. It’s presented in a great - retro newsreel “found footage” complete with director cameo - way and does a great job of kick starting the second act. Now it all makes sense, we know of Frank’s identity, and this starts up a new wave of questions.

Then something unique happens. A moment that in its restrained shape proves that less is more, and a moment that definitely could have become something completely different. Instead it becomes a key moment of the movie. Penny and Crystal are drawn together by their desire for each other, but instead of using the moment to jump into gratuitous moment of nudity and sexploitation, Stanze has the two women merely connecting. An initial moment of intimacy that proves they have a desire for each other. From here they share a common foundation from which they can build a future together - a small sliver of light in Crystal’s darkness. They kiss, they embrace, and we can see the lust in their eyes. They have both yearned after this intimacy a long while and finally, as they find it, they have something worth fighting for. I call this an important moment as it establishes a value within the movie. Crystal who has been on the run for the major part of the movie – running from her past, running from her now and most likely to run from her future too – finds a reason to stop. There’s a possible love story there, which fills her character with value. I’ve said it in texts before; love is a strong tool in movies. We can all identify with the emotions a play; the emotional recognition is what creates the empathy for the characters. Crystal and Penny now have a value, never mind how dark and nihilistic we may be, we will want that moment of ecstasy to come. Their joy is our joy. The Crystal/Penny affair is used brilliantly, as it builds from here on out and culminates in the movies strongest and profoundest moments of disturbing darkness.

The slow build, which has lead up to the Frank backstory and the Crystal/Penny affair, culminates with a final rush of insight. We finally find out how these characters all come together, and in what way they all fit into the bigger picture. It’s an impressive move, which I should have seen coming, but I didn’t, for which I give all credit to Stanze (and Christ) as it caught me by complete surprise.

So I though that I’d be watching a cheap exploitation flick drenched with blood and gratuitous nudity, and the usual hardened unconditional approach that Stanze brings into his movies. But I ended up getting something completely different. Yeah, there’s nudity – fitting within the context, there’s some gore – at times fantastically gross and impressive, and that dark approach Stanze brings to his subjects is perfected with Ratline.

I’ve recently had the pleasure of watching through a retrospective of Stanze’s work due to the Eric Stanze Collection box being released by Njuta Films here in Sweden. (Ratline not included, but six other titles, which I reviewed in the November issue of Cinema – English version available on ipad - where I also pointed out that Stanze worked Second Unit on Jim Mickle’s impressive Stakeland.) There’s no doubt about it, Ratline is the Stanze-one-man-film crew’s most flawless work and it’s definitely a breaking point in his career. Indie movies usually just play though and that’s that, but Ratline really got under my skin, as some well played tricks pulled me in, set me up and unexpectedly shocked me.

Do NOT miss Ratline, as I have a feeling this is the one that makes the difference. It's the kind of movie that makes me love independent movies all over again, as it comes out of nowhere; punches hard and leaves an imprint that will last a long time. Skillful storytelling applied on genre, in the very best way.

The disc also features a behind the scenes documentary, and two commentary tracks, both featuring Stanze and both giving different insights into the movie and the filmmaking process. You should be listening to these kinds of things if you claim to be interested in making, or simply understanding movies. This is where you learn it for real, but watching stuff and listening to the people who made them.

Shock Waves

Shock Waves

Directed by: Ken Wiederhorn

USA, 1977

Horror, 85 min

Distributed by: Blue Underground

The Germans - Stern, ruthless and methodical to the bone. To say the least, the Germans at least gave us one useable thing out of the Second World War, apart from the Autobahn infrastructure, The Nazi. The Nazi is the most elaborate of all archetypal characters. You don’t need to set up anything with this character, just angle the camera at them from a lower angle and you have a haunting image of evil looming on the screen. There’s no back story needed, no character traits have to be explained, just shoot the image, and the audience will fill in the few blanks and cringe with recognition as they know the Nazi is the most evil of all… and when you are dealing with a Nazi that’s come back from the dead, they the amplifier just got cranked up to eleven.

Evil Nazi’s are a splendid tool to use, that’s why they are so frequently utilised by filmmaker, writers and comic book creators. Simply because they are our most powerful emotional, historical and cultural signifier of the foul core of pure evil – unless you are into all that White Power, supreme race bullshit of course. This is obviously why Mike Mignola has the Nazi forces exploring the Occult, and being the main antagonist in his Hellboy comic, and the first movie, this is why Tommy Wirkola uses Nazi Zombies in his smash hit Dead Snow 2009, why Steve Barker has Nazi ghosts in Outpost 2008, why John Landis werewolves in David’s dream sequence in An American Werewolf in London 1981 are dressed in Nazi uniforms, why George Lucas clad the upper ranks of the Empire of Star Wars 1977 in Nazi influenced regalia, why Jesus Franco put them at the bottom of a lake in Oasis of the Dead 1981, and why Jean Rollin used them in Zombie Lake 1981, why so many got so excited about the Richard Raphoorst’s now abandoned Worst Case Scenario and why the Nazisploitation genre always managed to churn out the most vile villains. The Nazis are the definitive evil character.

Which obviously is why Ken Wiederhorn riddled the ocean with Nazi Zombies in his 1977 movie debut feature Shock Waves.

Shock Waves starts with a classic final rescue scene indicating that one person at least will get out alive… as Rose [Brooke Adams - Phillip Kaufman’s excellent Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978, and David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone 1983] is found floating adrift on a small raft. She’s pulled onboard a fishing boat as she writhes and screams in panic. Some bad shit has apparently gone down, and we will soon learn what as the movie jumps back in time to Captain [the legendary John Carradine] and his tiny crew of Keith [Luke Hapin] and ship cook Dobbs [Don Stout] travel the Caribbean. Moments later a strange phenomenon knocks their boat out of whack unsettling the passengers, and setting the tone of creepiness to come.

Obviously strange stuff starts taking place, the passengers start to complain and after the boat is damaged by the passing ghost ship, the Captain is found dead in the waters as the rest of them take refuge on a remote island. On the island they find a seemingly abandoned mansion, and stumble upon the only person left on the island, a strange man donning a huge facial scar. [Hammer legend Peter Cushing] It’s also around this time that the zombies start to make an appearance, first taking out Ship Cook Dobbs. Cushing tells them to get the heck off the island, and as Rose goes for a evening swim in a lake, she finds the body of Dobbs floating in the water with a Nazi insignia held firmly in his dead hand. The few survivors lead on by Keith return to the hotel only to notice the swastika flags hanging in the main hall. Cushing appears once again, and like all bad villains he spills the beans without the Keith and company actually forcing him. Cushing turns out to be an SS Commander who was in charge of creating a special immortal task force - the Zombies - who he had command of during the war. As the war ended he was told to flee with his army of the undead, who all roamed the seas until their boat smashed into the reef off the island. With that said he tells the survivors that he at least gave them the chance to escape, something that is impossible now. Loading his pistol of fine German steel – his Luger gun - he tells them to leave, and if he sees them again he will shoot to kill.

As if Cushing’s threat wasn’t enough, they now have the army of the dead to avoid too. An army that pretty soon goes on a rampage after they decide that they don’t need a commander anymore. The movie more or less becomes a survival horror flick from here on, with the petty band of survivors becoming lesser in total forever ten minutes that goes by. This is where the danger of the opening sequence with survivor Rose being rescued comes back and bites the movie in the ass. There’s always a huge gamble at stake when you open your movie in this manner, as I know whom I can expect to pull though. And if you don’t take the time to build the supporting characters around that single survivor, they I’m not really give a damn about them. I feel nothing for the characters, and only want the carnage to begin. But Wiederhorn has a surprise ending in stock, an ending that is subtle, but still giving the movie a down beat finale and leaving you with a question to what really happened on the island.

All in all it’s a decent little flick. Perhaps not the most scary movie, but it does build slowly, setting, and sustaining a rather decent atmosphere which on many occasion actually holds a very European feeling to it. Carradine and Cushing only feature in the movie for a short time, but it’s a great move to use such acclaimed names in your debut feature, as you can guarantee that you will have those two recognizable names on your marketing material.

The Nazi Army, and their special effects created by Alan Ormsby of Bob Clarke's cult classics Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things 1973 and Dead of Night 1974, along with the delirious Deranged 1974 which Ormsby directed himself together with Jeff Gillen are pretty darned good. Even if they all look like a early nineties EBM band with bleached hair sporting raver goggles on their heads, their wet, bloated soggy appearance is pretty creepy. And speaking about special effects, that’s about as far as it goes. There’s no gratuitous gore or gut munching here at all, not even a single onscreen drop of blood which is a shame, but then again, that’s where the European ball game was at during the time period, and a completely different area all together. Within a couple of years the splatter and gore wave hit the US horror genre hard, and if made just a few years later, Shock Waves could have been a completely different movie. But all in all it plays it straight, avoids cheap gags for comic relief and creates a swell atmosphere for the movie.

Wiederhorn went on to direct college comedy King Frat 1979, a cash in on John Landis Animal House 1978, the thriller Eyes of a Stranger 1981 and the somewhat failed horror comedy, Return of the Living Dead Part II 1988 before settling into a quite decent career directing TV serials.

On a final note, the movies that take liberties with the Nazis fascination for the occult are actually based on “real” divisions and fractions within the party. They where heavily into that stuff, and books like Hitler: Black Magician by Gerald Suster and Unholy Alliance: A History of Nazi Involvement with the Occult by Peter Lavonda are fascinating reads which I definitely can recommend.

Image:

Widescreen 1:85.1, anamorphic 16x9

Audio:

Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. English Dialogue, no subtitles

Extras:

From Flipper to Shock Waves – interview with Luke Halpin, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots, Radio Spots, and Poster Gallery. An commentary track with Wiederhorn, Alan Ormsby and indie filmmaker Fred Olen Ray which is highly entertaining, and not only gives an insight into the movie, but the crew also share some great tales about working with legends like Cushing and Carradine.