Zombie Massacre 2: Reich of the Dead

The worst crime of this movie is being completely not entertaining. Nothing happens for at least half of the movie, the script is boring and every single scene drags on to death except for the ones involving the zombies or action (which would still be equally bad, so it's an empty complain).

It takes 1/3 of the movie till something really starts. And then it's all predictable.

The acting is lame, the zombies look "scary" but I'm a bad way.

I fast forwarded the movie after some time.

WWII battle worn soldiers come across a Nazi complex where experiments are taking place to resurrect dead prisoners.

Zombie Massacre 2: Reich of the Dead (2015) is dark, gloomy, more serious than their 2011 entertaining ride Eaters and more sombre and grounded than Zombie Massacre a.k.a Apocalypse Z.

Again filmmaker talents Luca Boni and Marco Ristori deliver a grim competently constructed bleak zombie horror that is stylishly shot with some good blood and gore effects presented on a saturated colour palette. The practical effects come better off that some of the CGI explosions and splatter. The sets and location look outstanding for the budget.

With actors Andrew Harwood Mills, Dan van Husen and Lucy Drive who is stunning as Erin the rest of the cast are on form and give performances as their picked off one by one that far surpass those in the first outing.

Zombie Massacre 2 is slower and more dramatic than Boni and Ristori's previous work, and while the story isn't the most original there's plenty of gore, creepy visuals, dead soldiers, vertical white stripes zombies, creepy faces and the like.

Boni and Ristori are becoming somewhat cult directors and need a breakout mainstream film but for the moment we have to wait a little longer, nevertheless, it's still agreeable zombie fodder.

Yes, I am a sucker for all things zombie, and more than often that fascination leads me to watch some very questionable movies. Questionable even though the DVD cover makes the movie seem a lot more interesting than it actually turned out to be. And "Zombie Massacre 2: Reich of the Dead" was no exception.

This movie was a drag to get through, especially because it was unfathomably slow paced. You are more than 30 minutes into the movie before the first zombie rears its ugly head. Ugly head indeed. Especially because all zombies were outfitted with what could best be described as latex masks bought at a local Halloween vendor. But hey, points for trying at least. And hand on heart, then a fake latex mask still is better than just some poor gray make-up on the face.

But the movie is slow paced and very little of any interest happens throughout the entire movie, and there is not even enough action throughout the movie to make up for the lack of speed and progress. And a storyline so simple that even an actual dead person can keep up with it is insulting to the audience. There are no surprises, no twists, no turns, no nothing here to be had. I suffered through the movie so you don't have to.

The story is about a small group of American soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany during World War II. Trapped and pinned down by enemy fire, they seek shelter in an abandoned Nazi compound. But some foul and sinister secret broods in the musky old Building.

Right. Well, the storyline was straight forward, I will say that much. But way too simple to be entertaining. And the make-up and special effects were just downright bad. Not bad enough to actually be funny and entertaining because they are bad. Just plain bad.

The acting in "Zombie Massacre 2: Reich of the Dead" was adequate for a movie such as this. I have seen much worse acting in low budget zombie movies because, so at least the movie had that working in its favor.

And the atmosphere of the movie was also working well in favor of the movie, because there was a good sense of the movie actually taking place during World War II. And it is always a plus in my book when Germans actually do speak German in war movies. So a rotten thumb up for that as well. Oh, and also the props and costume department should get some credit, because they added some authenticity to the movie as well with what they managed to put together.

However, the overall movie was just a stinker. Pardon the pun. If you enjoy zombie movies, then "Zombie Massacre 2: Reich of the Dead" is not a good choice for a night's worth of entertainment, as there are far better movies available.

If you like watching poorly acted soldiers exchanging nonsensical banters about war while occasionally shooting Nazi zombies, you might last the first act. However, if you want actually plot or coherent dialogues, you'll do better watching bloopers from any other war movie. This is as vague as narrative as it can be, even by standard of B-movie.

There's basically no structure to the story at all. People would tell war stories for half of the movie, engage in obscure overly dramatic military propaganda and suddenly the shooting starts to happen. Characters pop out of nowhere and disappear altogether from the story, no one knows what happen to that one guy who was there earlier nor do they seem to care.

Zombie and Nazi are mixed into the narrative, yet the soldiers' reactions are inconsistent. It's as though someone shuffles random screenplays and just tosses them together. Acting is wooden, not that the material offers anything conclusive. It's marred with vague gibberish and at times dreamy near hallucinogenic scenes. Don't expect any finesse to technical aspect either, cinematography and effect are low budget mediocrity.

A lot of pretentious talk about war without war itself, it will painfully bores audience like zombie bites and by now capitalizing on zombie fevers feels like an old gimmick.