About 20 years ago, I began work on a script for a zombie movie. I wrote an outline and several pages, but it didn't really go anywhere. Why? Well, at the time, I had many other things happening (graduate school for one) and zombie movies were dead, no pun intended. Save for some foreign products and the occasional indie release in America, no one was making living dead movies. Apparently, I should have finished the screenplay and then sat on it because now zombies are everywhere. From movies to television to the CDC actually making a zombie outbreak plan, the undead have taken over. This revival isn't just happening in the U.S., as we are seeing zombie product from all over the world. A good example of this is the German entry Rammbock: Berlin Undead.

As Rammbock: Berlin Undead opens ("rammbock" translates to "battering ram", Michael (Michael Fuith) arrives in Berlin from Vienna to give his ex-girlfriend her keys back. He goes to her apartment, but finds that she isn't home, but two workers are there. Suddenly, one of the handymen goes berserk and Michael and Harper (Theo Trebs), the handyman's assistant, lock him out of the apartment. Looking outside, they see people being attacked by vicious assailants in the courtyard of the building. Harper turns on the television and they learn that a viral outbreak is occurring in Berlin where the victims become extremely violent. Hearing groups of attackers on the stairs, Michael and Harper realize that they are trapped. Communicating with the other tenants, they begin to formulate a plan of survival and escape.

I have to say, I don't know a lot about German movies, and I've only seen a handful. Years ago, I saw a German film called Premutos and it had zombies...along with a lot of other wacky stuff. So, I don't know if Rammbock: Berlin Undead is the first German "zombie only" (if you will) movie, but it's most likely one of the best examples of this sub-sub-genre.

The interesting thing about Rammbock: Berlin Undead is that it's only 60 minutes long -- not quite long enough to be a feature film, but I assume that's longer than a short film. Most movies wear out their welcomes and I like the fact that Director Marvin Kren and Screenwriter Benjamin Hessler didn't drag things out. Any siege movie can quickly become monotonous, and while Rammbock: Berlin Undead does drag a bit in the middle, the movie never really loses its momentum. An hour may seem like a strange running time (especially for something which did receive a brief theatrical run), but it works well for this movie.

It's easy to assume that Kren and Hessler saw this big little movie as their calling card to something bigger and this may work in their favor, as Rammbock: Berlin Undead is a fairly impressive addition to an already crowded genre. Again, the movie only contains glimpses of originality, but the rest of the film offers enough intrigue to keep the viewer interested. The movie doesn't contain a lot of kinetic energy, but it does tap into the tension of being trapped. Rammbock: Berlin Undead makes the curious decision to keep us in the dark about the characters and focus solely on the situation. For example, why is there a big squirrel (bear?) costume in the apartment? Are they furries? Also, Harper is much more level-headed than Michael, despite his age, and it takes a while for the movie to allow us to like Michael. There are some surprising deaths, and while the ending isn't happy, it's more hopeful that most zombie films. For obvious reasons, Rammbock: Berlin Undead will make a good rental, but if you're a fan of the zombie genre, you'll be glad that you saw it.

Rammbock: Berlin Undead does a lot more for an ex-girlfriend than I ever would on DVD courtesy of Bloody Disgusting Selects/Vivendi Entertainment. The movie has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The movie was evidently shot on film, and it retains a dark, low-budget film look. The image is never overly dark -- we can always see what's happening -- but it certainly doesn't have the bright and clear look to which we're accustomed. Colors look OK, but they are somewhat muted. There is a slight amount of grain on the image, but I didn't note any substantial defects from the source material. The movie has an overall flat look, but the image is never soft. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. (This is the German track of which I speak. We also get a dubbed English track.) The dynamic range on the track is a bit off-kilter, as the sound effects are louder than the dialogue. That aside, the track provides some nice stereo effects, most notably when things are happening off-screen. The surround sound effects are a bit too subtle for my taste, and the subwoofer effects only occurred during certain action scenes.

The Rammbock: Berlin Undead DVD contains only two extra features. "The Making of Rammbock" (16 minutes) takes us directly onto the set where we hear comments from the cast and filmmakers. They discussing the origins of the film, the filming conditions, and the story, while the actors talk about how they got involved. We see a great deal of rehearsal footage and get a glimpse of how the special effects makeup was applied. "Zombiefication" (7 minutes) is a fake safety instruction film designed to help the viewer in the event of a zombie outbreak. This takes place in a movie theater, so my guess is that this was shown theatrically with Rammbock so as to pad the overall running time, but that is simply a speculation.