Zombies have come to mean more than creepy undead cannibals in the post-modern horror movie. They are either sledgehammer social commentary, halting psycho-social human monsters that remind us of "us," or comic relief inside an otherwise confused genre mutation. But can they really function at the center of a love story? Even better, can the entire romance revolve around saving your soulmate, even if he or she is a member of the walking dead?
That's the question posed by interesting import Berlin Undead (also known as Rammbock). On the outside, this is nothing more than the story of a group of survivors holed up in a German apartment building while all Hell breaks loose around them. But dig a little deeper and you'll discover a subtext of obsession, and one man's unrequited love for a reanimated corpse.
Michael (Michael Fuith) travels from his home in Austria to see if he can patch things up with his ex-gal pal Gabi (Anka Graczyk). He has been trying to get he on the phone all day, but she doesn't seem to be at home. Letting himself in to their former love nest, he comes across a handyman and his young intern, Harper (Theo Trebs). Neither know of Gabi's whereabouts. Suddenly, zombies swarm the building, cutting off the few residents remaining behind. As he tries furiously to get her on his cell, Michael is convinced that she is among the dead.
But soon he realizes that there are many places that Gabi could hide, and decides to leave the security of the flat to find her. Along the way, we learn how this particular outbreak works, the undead's major weakness (bright lights) and the possibility of escape - that is, as long as you can get to the port and catch a government-sponsored boat out of Berlin.
Within moments of introducing the characters and the set up, Berlin Undead begins its unrelenting drive to scare and shock you - and the never lets up for nearly 70 suspense-filled minutes. Following recent related titles like [REC], director Marvin Kren uses a singular setting to turn his particular manic monster outbreak into a very personal, very real experience. Everything from a courtyard swarming with creatures to trying to find a way out of a locked room takes on a far more immediate and aggressive stance.
While Michael is kind of a milquetoast, we understand his plight. He just wants to reconnect with his ex and find out if there is a chance for their relationship to work. The whole "zombie" thing is just a deadly distraction that he is more than willing to try and work around. With Harper as a kind of helper/hindrance, constantly reminding him (and the audience) of the threat around him, his need borders on obsession. In fact, one could easily argue that Michael is a kind of stalker stifled because, all around him, the dead are coming back to life. This keeps his reunion with Gabi constantly at the fore, since he is apparently willing to risk infection and death to find her.
Toward the end, after we've been around the apartment block and seen ways to secure/subvert everyone's safety, we wonder where Berlin Undead is ultimately going - and then the final scene arrives. Without spoiling it, it illustrates the depth of Michael's commitment and the lengths he will go, personally, to be with the one he loves. It turns your typical creepshow into a very moving and meaningful experience. For the first 65 minutes, Berlin Undead is nothing more than a very effective zombie film. At the end, it finds something more...much more.
That's the question posed by interesting import Berlin Undead (also known as Rammbock). On the outside, this is nothing more than the story of a group of survivors holed up in a German apartment building while all Hell breaks loose around them. But dig a little deeper and you'll discover a subtext of obsession, and one man's unrequited love for a reanimated corpse.
Michael (Michael Fuith) travels from his home in Austria to see if he can patch things up with his ex-gal pal Gabi (Anka Graczyk). He has been trying to get he on the phone all day, but she doesn't seem to be at home. Letting himself in to their former love nest, he comes across a handyman and his young intern, Harper (Theo Trebs). Neither know of Gabi's whereabouts. Suddenly, zombies swarm the building, cutting off the few residents remaining behind. As he tries furiously to get her on his cell, Michael is convinced that she is among the dead.
But soon he realizes that there are many places that Gabi could hide, and decides to leave the security of the flat to find her. Along the way, we learn how this particular outbreak works, the undead's major weakness (bright lights) and the possibility of escape - that is, as long as you can get to the port and catch a government-sponsored boat out of Berlin.
Within moments of introducing the characters and the set up, Berlin Undead begins its unrelenting drive to scare and shock you - and the never lets up for nearly 70 suspense-filled minutes. Following recent related titles like [REC], director Marvin Kren uses a singular setting to turn his particular manic monster outbreak into a very personal, very real experience. Everything from a courtyard swarming with creatures to trying to find a way out of a locked room takes on a far more immediate and aggressive stance.
While Michael is kind of a milquetoast, we understand his plight. He just wants to reconnect with his ex and find out if there is a chance for their relationship to work. The whole "zombie" thing is just a deadly distraction that he is more than willing to try and work around. With Harper as a kind of helper/hindrance, constantly reminding him (and the audience) of the threat around him, his need borders on obsession. In fact, one could easily argue that Michael is a kind of stalker stifled because, all around him, the dead are coming back to life. This keeps his reunion with Gabi constantly at the fore, since he is apparently willing to risk infection and death to find her.
Toward the end, after we've been around the apartment block and seen ways to secure/subvert everyone's safety, we wonder where Berlin Undead is ultimately going - and then the final scene arrives. Without spoiling it, it illustrates the depth of Michael's commitment and the lengths he will go, personally, to be with the one he loves. It turns your typical creepshow into a very moving and meaningful experience. For the first 65 minutes, Berlin Undead is nothing more than a very effective zombie film. At the end, it finds something more...much more.
