User reviews

In the WWII, a platoon of German soldiers is attacked by the Allies in an oasis and only the British Commander survives. The Sheik and his daughter Aisha (Doris Regina) rescue him in the desert and bring him to their house, where he recovers. Years later, the survivor tells to the mercenary Kurt (Henry Lambert) that the German troop was transporting a shipment of 6 million-dollar in gold and he informs the location of the treasure. However Kurt kills him and organizes an expedition to find the treasure.

Meanwhile the student Robert Blabber (Manuel Gélin) reads notes of his father and discovers that there is a treasure hidden in the desert. Robert joins his friends and they travel to the desert to seek the gold. However, when they reach the location, they are attacked by an army of German living dead.

"La Tumba de los Muertos Vivientes" is a lame and cheesy zombie movie by Jess Franco. This film is incredibly awful: story, screenplay, acting, dialogs, cinematography and special effects. The senseless exploitation in the beginning, with two women dressing very short Bermuda shorts is ridiculous. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Oasis dos Zumbis" ("Oasis of the Zombies")

Jess Franco has directed what is widely considered two of the worst zombie movies of all time, Zombie Lake and Oasis of the Zombies. How Franco, who writes and directs this yawn-inducer, is considered an exploitation icon is an absolute mystery to me. There isn't a single scene in this film that hints at any talent whatsoever.

During the second world war a nazi Afrika Korp is ambushed by the British at an Oasis outside of Tripoli where $6,000,000 of gold is buried. Fast forward to the present day, one assumes as the movie gives no dates, and the former British and German commanders meet to discuss where the exact location of the oasis is, excavate the site, and split the gold. As soon as the German learns where the location is he kills the British character. We next jump to a university in London where a young man named Robert receives a message about the death of his dad. Turns out the British commander was his father. Robert feigns sadness and immediately gathers his friends Ronald, the bowl cut dork, Ahmed, who insist on wearing a fez hat making him look even dorkier than Ronald, and Robert's girlfriend. They travel to Tripoli in search of the Sheik who knows the location to the Oasis as well as a warning that it's infested with the living dead corpses of the Nazis. Robert ignores the warnings and travels to the oasis. He does find something more important however. (Eyes Rolling)

Manuel Gelin manages to outdo his zombie counterparts as the most lifeless corpse on the screen. Just watch the scene where he learns of his father's death. Emote baby, emote! The backstory is told through a flashback which has some serious flaws. First is the fact that Robert's dad must be an immortal as he has not aged a day since the war. At least cut his hair and shave that mustache for crissakes! Second, Robert was the product of his father and the Sheik's daughter Aisha. This is during World War II which would make Robert in his late thirties at the very least! Instead Robert is a mid-twenties college student. More Franco brilliance? They at least try to make the Sheik age as he is given silver streaks in his hair and adorned with the most fake mustache ever. The zombies themselves are on par with I Eat Your Skin which was made twenty years earlier. They are basically men smeared with mud, worms, and oatmeal. One of the non-actor zombies looks as if it's a male blow up doll. Probably the source for Jess Franco's "inspiration". Even the ending sucks! Was he hiding the jeep under his sheets? An oasis from solid movie-making. Don't bother.

When someone says, "I like bad movies." you can see how sincere they are by subjecting them to anything Jesus Franco has ever made. Franco films are my meditation. They seem to numb my mind more than a crate of wine and a week of network television. This movie is classically Franco. It has a plodding pace, horrible voice overs, hot women, terrible lighting, deliriously bad camera work, a script written by a chimp, varying and disconnected ambient noise... Christ, Jess Franco is terrible and shamelessly I adore his films. They have the feel of a twelve year old with his first camera. His childishness is abound in this and really, all of his movies. He is a testament to tenacity (and hot women).

"Oasis of the Zombies" is the irrefutable proof that you should NEVER purchase horror movies judging by their cool-sounding titles and/or appealing DVD-covers! Lucky for me, I gained enough cynics (and Franco-experience) over the years in order to keep my expectations towards this one low, and I can only advise people to do the same. This movie is boring, poorly made and very UN-Franco! No sadism and a total lack of sleaze??? What's the matter, Jess? We follow the totally uninteresting treasure hunt of some youngsters in the African desert. During WWII, a Nazi-squadron carrying 6 million $ worth of gold supposedly got ambushed and the loot is still there. So are the Nazis, though, only they're rotten walking corpses now… The little bit of gore and the zombie make-up effects are very OTT and the complete opposite of scary, yet they form the only mildly entertaining aspects of the entire movie. The undead look filthy and disgusting but their attacks appear to be filmed in slow motion! So incredibly tame! "Nazi-zombie"-flicks isn't a very rich horror sub genre, but at least the 1977 "Shock Waves" can be considered a modest classic. Heck, even that dreadful "Zombie Lake" is ten times more entertaining than this turkey. That movie might be retarded but at least it contained some exciting moments.

Okay, I'll just assume I'm entering a comment for the version of the movie I saw (though who really cares about accuracy with something like this?). "Oasis of the Zombies" has a sketchy, multiple-version history that is finely indicative of director Jess Franco's low-budget, schlockmeister style. I have never really cared much for this Spanish horror hack (though I do think "The Awful Dr. Orloff" is a well-done chiller), but what can I say..."Oasis" holds a weirdly special place in my genre heart. The reviews across the board are mostly condemning if not outright cursing this POS' existence, and I can see where they're coming from--make no mistake, this IS the bottom rung of the zombie ladder. Yet at the same time, this film engages me in some odd way--yes, it is two movies spliced together (sometimes quite badly), but I don't find it boring, or even all that bad. Granted, I've never seen a decent print of the film, the night scenes are either too muddy or too bright (yes, a few take place in broad daylight), the characterizations poor, and the zombie 'action' less than stunning. In the small subgenre of Nazi Zombie Films, "Oasis" falls between the Good ("Shock Waves") and the Ugly (Jean Rollin's "Zombie Lake"). 74 minutes into this 85-minute film, we get the signature image of zombies shambling up a dune against an orange sunset (or sunrise?), and it's the only moment of atmospheric artistry to be found. Still, for those who are inured to this kind of low-end Euro-dreck (myself included), "Oasis" is worth a look--in many ways, it is conceptually interesting enough to be a good remake candidate.

1943: Allied officer Captain Blabert (Javier Maiza) and his men intercept a German convoy transporting a fortune in Nazi gold; only Blabert survives the battle, and is later found wandering the desert by nomads. Nursed back to health by Sheik Mohamed Al-Kafir (Antonio Mayans), Blabert falls for the sheikh's sexy daughter Aisha (Doris Regina), knocking her up before heading back to war. Years later, Blabert reveals the location of the lost Nazi gold to a rascal named Kurt, who promptly kills the captain and hotfoots it to the oasis. Meanwhile, Robert Blabert (Manuel Gélin), having heard of his father's death, reads some of his old man's notes and also learns about the gold; together with a handful of his college pals, he goes to meet Sheikh Mohamed, who points him in the right direction. The only problem is that the horde ($6m of it) is guarded by the undead German soldiers, who rise from the sand at night to kill!

To say that Oasis of the Zombies is Jess Franco's worst film is quite the bold statement - there are, after all, quite a few serious contenders for the title - but it definitely isn't one of his better films. While the zombie scenes themselves are reasonably fun, with quite a few craptabulous examples of the walking dead to delight fans of trashy Euro-horror, almost everything in between is pretty dire. The flimsy plot is fairly diabolical, and Franco resorts to padding out his film with a prolonged battle flashback, some local colour (including a visit to a souk for Robert and pals), and a spot of skinny-dipping and sex for Robert's pal Ronald (Eric Viellard) and documentary film-maker's assistant Erika (France Lomay, who provides the obligatory nudity). Franco also seems obsessed with a spider in a web that has zero bearing on the story, giving us lots of out-of-focus shots of the arachnid for no apparent reason.

The amazingly bad script includes these unintentional howlers: "Let's get some bottles and make molotov cocktails - like in school." and this cringe-worthy closing exchange of dialogue "Did you find what you were looking for?" "I mainly found myself." Wow, that's deep!

In terms of splatter, the film is rather disappointing, the only gory scene being the removal of one victim's innards by the hungry zombies (the zombie extras enthusiastically yanking out animal offal).

As bad as Oasis of the Zombies undeniably is, the worm-eaten zombies - some with bug-eyes, some with pin-hole eyes, and some without eyes - and the occasional spot of nudity (sadly, not from cutie Caroline Audret as Robert's friend Sylvie) stop this from being totally worthless.

3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

I remember watching this movie when i was thirteen years old. Back then i thought it was boring, but now I know you have to watch a zombie movie more than once to fully appreciate it. I bought it a week ago, and have seen it three times since, with ever growing enthusiasm. The zombie make-up is fantastic, so is the music. It doesn't matter if the acting is poor or that the violence is tame. The atmosphere and the totally incredible zombies give this film a special place in my heart forever.

With the legendary stinker reputation that this Jess Franco fable bestows (together with Jean Rollin's 'Zombie Lake'), I just could help myself to see what all the fuss was about. To tell the truth I was expecting something much, much worse when I got to the end of it, while viewable (think along the lines of a crash car taking place and you simply having trouble taking your eyes off it) I still couldn't deny just how uninvolved, flat and dull it was despite being compelled.

This leery zero-budget schlock never captures the premise's promising idea (where it has Nazi zombies protecting the gold from anyone who enters the oasis in the African desert) and doesn't go anywhere we haven't already been before. The lack of money for the production wouldn't have helped, but the execution is clunky and tame on all fronts for something that needed to be more risqué (no gore or nudity). A repetitively slow-going mess with incoherent story-telling and woodenly wordy script is what comes about. It's hard to get excited seeing the same lingering zooms, ponderous actions and having to listen to Daniel White's lousy score of cringe-induced skews being dragged out.

The ultra-cheap FX work for the threatening zombies (who seem to like to croak and shuffle) look like there done up in scrappy papier-mâché, but it has a decaying quality to it that's effective. Murky, washed out photography and lack of lighting doesn't make good use of the exotically bone-dry locations or helping to figure out just when it's night or day. Atmosphere is non-existent, but there's one decent creepy image Franco pulls off involving zombie silhouettes' moving down the dunes with the sun setting (or was it rising) in the backdrop and an well-organised explosive war set-piece during the sequence we're learning about the history of the Oasis and it's dead protectors. Acting is poor (but there are some stunning women about), and the character's they play (mainly the college kids) are plain stupid.

A doggedly uneventful zombie film that just manages to hold a spell over you. I don't know how though?

An expedition searching for treasure supposedly buried by the German army in the African desert during WW II comes up against an army of Nazi zombies guarding the fortune.

You know, there is plenty of potential when you mix zombies with Nazis, and you have a unique twist when you put the whole thing in North Africa (typically mummy territory). Such great films as "Shock Waves" and "Dead Snow" have used he Nazi zombie theme and succeeded. Heck, even the awful "Zombie Lake" is better than this one.

I do not even know how to review the movie because it was just so boring. I care nothing about the characters or plot, and found it difficult to pay attention. This is not one of the better zombie films out there, and could probably be ranked among the worst ever made.

There, I said what everyone else that saw this movie was thinking right? At least I am speaking for those who are familiar with Jess Franco's work. This is a good "bad in a good way" zombie flick, but not "bad in a really good way". There is too much jibber jabber. We all know why we sat down to watch this movie, let's be honest...because it had the word "zombie" in the title. I had to play the zombie scenes a few times and then in slow motion so I could get my fill. There was a good disembowelment in one scene, but it was a quickie.

I am also a fan of some of Jess Franco's sexploits so I don't mind some of the questionable story lines and dialogue that I usually get with his films, especially when English dubbed. But I wouldn't have guessed this to be a Franco picture if I didn't already know it. So, if you can rent this one or borrow it, go for it.

Jess Franco bashers would have you believe that this is one of the worst films ever made. Well, it isn't. Not by a long shot...

In fact, this minor zombie gem is very much a blood relative to the likes of D'Amato's EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD and Fulci's ZOMBIE. They all share the same unsettling atmosphere/hypnotic dread and they all have settings in truly creepy locales.

As for the gore, it is kept to a minimum. However, the organic effects are quite excellent. These zombies truly look like grotesque dead/rotting corpses.

And as for the storyline, this is one of the few times Franco employs a traditional narrative structure. It works perfectly fine, keeping the plot simple, yet engaging. And for the naysayers, he even keeps his trademark "zooms" to a bare minimum.

Bottom line: Jess Franco may be an acquired taste, but this genre film is not.

This is yet another European zombie film which doesn't quite make the grade. The film essentially begins with a German convoy carrying gold during World War II which engages in battle with an American unit at an oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Both sides are annihilated except for one American officer who is wounded but eventually rescued by a passing nomadic caravan. He is taken to a nearby village and nursed back to health. After the war, a German officer seeks to find the gold and murders the American after he tells him where the oasis is located. What he doesn't know is that the gold is protected by Nazi zombies who kill anyone comes to the oasis. At any rate, rather than disclose the entire story I will just say that the film seemed to lack harmony. In particular, I didn't care for the appearance of the zombies at all. Likewise, the script seemed somewhat disjointed. Of course, the fact that the movie was originally filmed in Spanish and dubbed in English probably had a lot to do with that. But I liked the overall premise of the movie and the fact that it featured several attractive women, France Lomay ("Erika"), Caroline Audret ("Sylvie") and Doris Regina ("Aisha"). But other than that there really isn't anything that stands out or manages to elevate this film to even an average score.