Movie Review: Malnazidos (2020)

Malnazidos (2020) directed by Alberto de Toro and Javier Ruiz Caldera

Set during the Spanish Civil War, Captain Jan (Miki Esparbe) fights for the Fascist side though he is a lawyer by trade and not a very good soldier. His uncle is a friend of Franco and gets him out of trouble (i.e., execution by firing squad) for the third time. To prove that he's a worthy and trustable soldier, Jan is given a secret letter to deliver to another unit, a unit far enough away that the mission is one he likely won't come back from. He takes the job rather than being summarily executed. He picks up a young private as a driver (Manel Llunell) and they head off through enemy territory. It's not long before they are captured by a bunch of Reds who are about to off them when they all discover that the dead are coming back to life. The dead don't care if people are fascist or communist, to them everyone is food. So an uneasy alliance is struck to get out of the titular Valley of the Dead (at least, that's the English version of the title, if not a translation). 

This is a fairly standard zombie movie. The historical setting is the only original bit of it. The rest of the film has all been made before--the rakish, authority-flaunting hero, the young, inexperienced sidekick (there's a running gag about the driver being a virgin), the hostile, competent female who winds up with the hero, the evil, scarred scientist who gets his comeuppance, etc. Even with the lack of originality, the movie is still entertaining in a "rainy Saturday afternoon" way. The gore is surprisingly mild for a zombie film, which I didn't mind. The actors do a good job with the semi-cliched roles they inhabit. I was entertained but not wowed by the film.

Mildly recommended, and not to be confused with the 1946 movie with the same English title.