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.

Movie Review: Valley of the Zombies (1946)

Valley of the Zombies (1946) directed by Philip Ford

With a title like Valley of the Zombies, you'd expect some tropical adventure where a group of treasure hunters come across a valley filled with undead horror. This movie is not that movie. Rather, it starts in a doctor's office where the younger partner flirts with the nurse while the older partner worries over the mysterious disappearance of blood from their supply. Meanwhile, a creepy, caped figure is crawling over the roof of the building. After the nurse and younger doctor go off to the hospital, the figure shows up in the office. He menaces the older doctor and reveals that he is Ormand Murks, a patient that the doctor had committed to an insane asylum five years earlier. A year later, Ormand died but was resurrected by his brother who had a special voodoo formula from, you guessed it, the Valley of the Zombies. Now he needs blood in order to stay alive (this was before the whole brains thing) and the doctor has just the right blood type for Mr. Murks. Later, the police discover the murder of the older doctor and naturally assume that the younger doctor is the prime suspect since he'd get the medical practice. The doctor and the nurse set off to discover the real killer based on the scant clues that point to the dead man Murks.

The movie has an interesting premise. As long as the viewer goes with the "resurrected madman needs blood to live" idea the story is fairly logical and enjoyable. Ian Keith, who plays Murks, gives a nearly over-the-top performance with a good blend of humorous and menacing elements. On the other hand, the nurse is a bit of a stereotyped female (at one point, she claimed she had the valuable skill of screaming!) which was not so fun to watch. The dialog has a healthy dose of film noir patter which is good and bad--sometimes it sparkled, sometimes it felt dated.

Overall, this is a enjoyable b-movie horror from the 1940s though there is almost nothing "zombie" about it other than the title.