SHOCKWAVES DVD
Review by Brian Singleton
The stirring and promising voice-over concerning the German High
Commands Authorized experiments on dead soldiers during WW2, creating an Invincible
Army of Super Soldier who fought with no weapons or shields, killed With their
bare hands and were never captured by allied forces is spoken over an old
army photograph depicting German soldiers before the opening title of Shockwaves.
In the first scene, an exhausted and disoriented woman (Brooke Adams)
Is rescued at sea as she lay floating in a small rowboat (ironically labeled
"BON ADVENTURE" or "GOOD TRIP"). The scene is accompanied
by the woman's voice-over attesting to her inability to recall the past events
when questioned by her rescuers, but continues to remember in time. The film
then cuts back to the beginning of the ordeal with a scene of Rose swimming
peacefully through the ocean then boarding a small island tour boat headed
by navigator Keith (played convincingly by Luke Haplin of "Flipper"
fame) and a surly veteran Captain, played by surly veteran David Carradine.
After several engine failures and electrical problems, the afternoon sun becomes
unusually bright orange. As the remainder of the tourists on board emerge
to observe the bizarre phenomena, the scene cuts oddly to underwater shots
of an old ship or structure. Apparently, the passengers witness a ghost ship
in the waters, although this is never actually shown. The tourists express
their concern and request to head back to land, however the ship is now lost
at sea with nightfall approaching.
During the night, as Keith navigates the lost vessel with Rose, a large menacing warship suddenly appears before them and collides with the small boat, only to disappear on impact. The Captain and passengers awake and argue about the events. These scenes are very choppy and confusing, even after a second viewing, partially due to the surprisingly muddy transfer, but mostly credited to poor production. Apparently, the film was not taken from the original negative but rather from the Ken Wiederhorn’s own vault print then digitally restored.
The film then cuts to the next morning where the ship, now irreparably damaged,
has run across a nearby island with Captain Carradine missing, and as the
group rows to shore, turning up dead in the water. Now stranded on the island
and minus a Captain, the group struggles through the thick forests of the
island in search of help; eventually discovering a desecrated hotel inhabited
by a scarred and withered Nazi SS Commander (another excellent performance
from Peter Cushing).
As the group enters the scene cuts to the audience's first look at the supposed
Nazi Super Soldiers in a series of underwater shots depicting a single soldier
awkwardly walking around the remnants of a sunken ship and emerging towards
the shore. Another night scene is cut in with the group setting up camp in
the hotel ruins, then cuts to the next day once more.
Used in mediocrity, some continuity errors concerning time difference are
acceptable and easily overlooked, but the excess of inappropriate and ill-timed
jumps from night to day seriously disrupt the continuity of Shockwaves and
create even further confusion for the viewer.
The following scene jumps to the next morning, showing numerous Nazi
Super Soldiers lurching from the ocean shore towards the island. This scene
is well done with simple effective shots, and the soldiers look eerie in black
uniforms and goggles, but as with many scenes in the film, the images would
be much more effective at night, consequently failing to create atmosphere,
suspense or tension.
Eventually, the group rejoins SS Commander Cushing at the hotel in an engaging
scene which basically reiterates the film's opening narration and the fact
that the Commander was in charge of the Super Soldier division designed for
water called the "Death Corps", manning submarines which would never
need to surface. Claiming the Soldier's behavior became increasingly violent
and uncontrollable, the mission was aborted towards the end of the war and
the ship was left at sea until he sank her on purpose near the island and
escaped where he has lived in exile for many years. For the remainder of the
film, the group tries to leave the island and fall victim one by one to the
Nazi Soldiers (including Cushing himself for some reason?).
With the first death occurring almost one hour into the film, the previous
60 minutes of establishing scenes and character development are not nearly
strong enough to sustain most viewer interest or attention, and when the Super
Soldiers finally begin killing, the death scenes are completely bloodless
and often cut abruptly even before a confrontation occurs.
The soldiers are supposed to be the most vicious killing machines ever created,
yet the killings are far too tame and not characteristic of the soldiers supposed
disposition. The death scenes are also painfully obvious, and once again lack
any sense of suspense, atmosphere, style or creativity (one notable exception
being a death scene involving a soldier killing one of the tourists in the
dark waters of an indoor pool). Of course not every horror film must have
blood and gore to be effective however, each film must be taken into context,
and an absence of one element may require an excess of another. For example,
in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (made 2 years previous), Tobe Hooper directed
a horrific, macabre and disturbing story, together with extremely unsettling
images to create masterpiece of horror absolutely free of bloodshed, yet more
terrifying than any film to date. In the case of Shockwaves, a horror film
dealing with underwater Nazi Super Soldiers designed for the sole purpose
of murder stalking helpless tourists on a remote island, the absence of gore
is appalling, especially considering the budget for often unnecessary underwater
photography that could have been spent on quality make-up FX.
Admittedly, Shockwaves is a better film than many films in the
"Nazi Zombie" genre such as Oasis of the Zombies, Zombie Lake, Revenge
of the Zombies and, Death Ship, but for some reason, horror films taking place
in the water always seem to drown?
- Brian Singleton
SHOCKWAVES DVD
Review by Brian Singleton Release 2002
Blue-Underground
