Shock Waves
(1977)
This year, I decided I would start things off with a movie starring two of the greats: Peter Cushing and John Carradine. All I know about this movie is that it is about underwater Nazi zombies. Other than that, I'm going in blind, folks!
Things are starting out with some exposition about Nazi experiments during WWII, where they were trying to create some undying soldiers. And now the movie's title screen is coming up, and I don't know what could possibly...
Oh. Oh no. I don't think this is going to be good at all.
After the credits, we are treated to what I think is a fishing boat finding a little rowboat adrift in the ocean. It's the main character, who is going to recount the events of the movie to us. Goodie.
We are then taken to another boat, adrift in the ocean. The engine has broken down for the second time. They fix the engine, the sky turns yellow, and they are off again.
The yellow sky doesn't sit well with one of the passengers, and he starts talking about inciting a mutiny with the crew.
Then, when it is night, they hit...something. Apparently, they thought it was a freighter, but they couldn't see anything. In the morning, the captain (Carradine) is missing, and the crew evacuates the passengers to a nearby island. On the way there, they find the captain.
After placing his body on the beach, the other survivors wander the island until they find a building. It seems to be an old hotel. We get a nice look at the dining hall, an empty refrigerator, and a fish tank, with lots of living fish in it. Hhmm.
This is where the Nazi scientist
So far, this movie is starting to look like a boring, even lamer Gilligan's Island, but with more death. And, of course, these guys.
Let's not forget about the underwater Nazi zombies! Unfortunately, even they couldn't save this movie.
From this point, the story trudges along, some things are kind of explained, and everyone starts dying off. And it should come as no surprise to anyone that the only survivor is the woman in the boat from the very beginning of the movie. It's a bold choice, really, taking away any tension your movie might have by showing us before the movie starts who the only survivor will be. I mean, there might be somewhat of a surprise at the end, but it was very blah.
Overall, Shock Waves was kind of boring. When you know the ultimate outcome ahead of time, the story better be engrossing. This story was not.
It also wasn't the proper type of "bad" that would make it good RiffTrax material. And that is a special kind of disappointment for me.
You know what? The more I think about this movie, the angrier I get. I really feel like I wasted my time with this one. I mean, come on! You had Dr. Who, the Great Owl, and UNDERWATER NAZI ZOMBIES and it was still boring?
If you need me, I'll be watching something entertaining, like the new season of MST3K on Netflix.
Favorite quote: "The sea spits up what it can't keep down."
Tomorrow's movie: The Grapes of DEATH!
