Director: Marvin Kren
Screenplay: Benjamin Hessler
Producer: Sigrid Hoerner
Starring: Michael Fuith, Anna Graczyk, and Sebastian Achilles
MPAA Rating: R for some horror violence.
Running time: 59 min
(4/5)There is really something to be said for movies that know what they want to achieve and that they don’t need to be everything for everyone. Rammbock is a cool entry in the zombie genre. Unlike many zombie films out there that try to show some aspect of society Rammbock smartly chooses to simply tell a good straight forward story with some fun twists that elevate it above majority of zombie films.
Michael (Michael Fuith) comes to Berlin to seek out his ex-girlfriend Gabi. When he arrives at her apartment he sees a large man who appears to be doing some repairs. When he goes to introduce himself he is attacked. After surviving the attack he ends up being locked in Gabi’s apartment. Over the next 50 or so minutes Michael and the other members of the apartment fight for their survival. Everything is now in place for the standard zombie movie but I will strongly say that Rammbock stands out amongst it peers.
One of the biggest differences when compared to other films such as [REC] is that even though everyone is located in the same apartment complex they are separated for a good part of the movie by the zombies and the design of the building. Much of the short running time is spent trying to connect with the neighbors and also with Michael dealing with having lost Gabi now a second time.
As far as I know Rammbock is Germany’s first zombie movie to reach a wider audience and I have to say that I really loved it and can’t wait to see more zombie films from them. The movie doesn’t try to be something it is not but instead tries to just be a great entry in the zombie genre with some good scares with the new breed of fast zombies. Rammbock really does succeed in this. There is no bloating with unnecessary plot or characters. It is just good zombie horror.
Rammbock has been picked up for distribution in the US by the new Bloody Disgusting Selects and is currently in limited release. If you get a chance be sure to check it out, it won’t disappoint zombie fans.
John Allison, just read your review. Light, but to the point. A tidy, objective summation!
I noted your words ‘As far as I know Rammbock is Germany’s first zombie movie to reach a wider audience’. Does this mean that Germany has produced zombie movies before, because I can’t find any. Or does it mean they’ve made zombie films but international audiences haven’t seen them? Interested to find out.
Interested to hear more about your term ‘fast zombies’. What does this mean? Or are you referring to them ‘moving faster’ than the previous lot, who seemed to loiter, stagger and somehow catch their prey despite their physical slowness.
Hi Ms. Curious,
By fast moving I mean zombies of the type of 28 Days Later as opposed to classic slow moving Romero zombies. There are one or two minor differences between the zombies of 28 Days Later and Rammbock ones but I don’t want to get into them as they are sort of spoilerish.
The spoilerish aspect is why I kept the review somewhat short. The movie is really straight forward but there are lots of little moments that are really nice touches and I don’t want to spoil them.
I did bit a bit of checking online and I couldn’t come up with any real zombie flicks from Germany. I also would love to know if there are more that just didn’t go “wide”.
The zombie-comedy “Night of the Living Dorks” was a very minor hit, as an example of a Zombie movie out of Germany.