Reviews (5)

FLIPPER-1963
Flipper 1963 is a good family film, but i dont like the chorus of what sounds like little childrens voices singing everyone loves the king of the sea, ever so kind and gentle is he, okay for a family film but it sounds like something that would make people think flipper is sappy and inspire put down jokes. One person said flipper is just a rehash of lassie, in some stories like the Ditching, where you hear go for help flipper were counting on you, youre our only hope but youll find stories like shark hunt or even flippers hour of peril quite different from lassie and the wolf cub. Flipper went more for adventure than the tearducts

Basic family fare...
The original Flipper movie is simple, and unpretentious tale that tickles the heartstrings. The story line is uncomplicated, with touches that keep it grounded in reality.

Chuck Connors, best known for playing Lucas McCain on "The Rifleman" TV program, is once again cast as a strong father figure. Here he is Porter Ricks, a fisherman trying to eek out a living, and support his wife (Kathleen Maguire) and young son Sandy (Luke Halpin). Life is very hard, as after surviving a hurricane, Porter must leave his family to repair his boat damaged in the storm.

While his father is away, Sandy is exploring the sea with some friends. A dolphin (Flipper), is shot with a spear by another boy in the party. The shooter is himself injured, and is taken away for medical attention. Sandy returns to the scene, with shotgun in hand, prepared to put the injured dolphin out of it's misery. Of course that can't happen, and Sandy brings the injured dolphin home.

Flipper's recovery is a most miraculous one, but the real story deals with the relationship between father and son, and the growth of the young man. Sandy is a good kid, but not syrupy sweet. Ricks loves his son, but is determined to have him face the realities of life. Thanks to Flipper, both father and son learn some valuable lessons in life.

The story of Flipper's origin, has a more serious tone than the TV program. Though it doesn't have a lot of warm and fuzzy moments, it is still fairly good family entertainment.

Flipper gets a great start
I grew up watching the Flipper TV series and it was always one of my favorites, so I couldn't wait to see the original movie that's humbly called "Flipper." It shows how Flipper earned his name and how he met his best friend named Sandy.

I liked this movie, but I don't like it as much as I like "Flipper's New Adventure." You won't see Flipper make any rescues this first time around, and he doesn't have the same 'voice' as he has in the series, but you will see the smart dolphin do plenty of tricks and show that he had a huge brain even in his first outing.

If you've ever liked the TV series or even if you haven't ever seen it, but you like dolphins or just good movies, I recommend getting "Flipper." It'd probably be especially good for kids of any age to watch, and possibly a good family movie. To make it short, it'd be a good buy.

If you love dolphins, this one's for you!
My nine-year-old daughter and I both love dolphins. We very much enjoyed this movie. The part where Flipper displays his talents at performing tricks is particularly endearing. It was good to hear the Flipper theme song in its entirety. I recommend it highly for family viewing - much more than the newer Paul Hogan version.

This is a great family movie.
If you're looking for a wholesome adventure that the whole family can enjoy, then this is a good choice. The family portrayed here exhibits good family values--respect for each other and for authority, responsibility, and they even pray! I found nothing objectionable in this video for my 5-year-old and I'm not easy to please. I highly recommend this version over the more recent one. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

If you ever liked the TV series, get this movie!
Flipper the TV series was made before my time, but I grew up watching reruns of the classic series. As long as I live, Flipper will always be one of my favorite TV series of all time. Just like the TV series, the famous dolphin named Flipper is here in "Flipper's New Adventure" making rescues, helping people, and just being the good old talented Flipper that performs amazing exploits in the water.

In this movie, Brian Kelly makes his debut as Porter Ricks, Luke Halpin plays as Sandy, and Flipper is played by...Flipper. In "Flipper's New Adventure," (yep, it's a full-length movie), Flipper and Sandy use an island as a hideaway and they both later get tangled up in a kidnapping exploit. If you're familiar with the TV series, then you'll pretty much know what to expect from this movie. Unlike the Leonard Maltin review says, this movie is not just for kids, it's for anybody who has ever liked the TV series, or for anyone who likes good movies. I recommend it all the way!

Flipper rocks
This is Brian Kelly's debue as Porter Ricks. There is incredible underwater photography and great dolphin tricks. Brian Kelly went on to be the Executive Producer of Bladerunner. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

We've Been Hit By A Ghoooooooost Ship
God bless the kind folks at Blue Underground who like these midnight horror flicks as much as the fans, and have the funds to put them out on dvd. Shock Waves is one of the many fun titles they have released. I originally saw this movie on USA when they had a show called "Saturday Nightmares" back in the late eighties. This movie's always been a favorite of mine coz of it's concept and because of Peter Cushing. Just the idea of the Nazis screwing around with science and the supernatural to make zombie soldiers is creepy-and it's not too crazy a notion to assume they actually might have tried that. I've always like the whole stranded on an island concept for some reason. Plus, I'm not a big fan of the water, so the fact that all this chaos emerges from the ocean adds a little depth(Get it? Depth? Ocean? Water?)to the scariness for me. Yeah, it's cheap, the acting is mediocre(except Cushing of course), it's corny at times, but it has something. The look of the zombies, the way they move, the way they stare at people.......it's creepy. Cushing makes too early of an exit as well as Carradine, but what can ya do? For a "zombie" film there is a surprising lack of gore, but that's no big deal coz the movie goes more for the suspense angle, and succeeds most of the time. Roger Waters samples this film for a song on his Amused To Death album. That's bizarre. I guess Roger Waters likes Shock Waves as well. Could Roger Waters lead you astray? NO! So watch this.

From the Depths of Hell's Ocean Comes...Nazi Zombies!
On a desolate, nondescript Caribbean island, shipwreck survivors are surprised to discover that an eccentric old German doctor resides there in an abandoned and dilapidated hotel. They soon learn, however, that the old Teutonic medical man is more that just eccentric; he's a former S.S. officer who has continued with the experiments assigned to him by Der Führer. And it isn't long before the castaways find themselves battling for survival against a corps of amphibious Nazi zombies!

This off-the-wall, low-budget horror film is just as goofy as it sounds, but it's still pretty good fun. And believe it or not, it actually spawned a bizarre sub-genre of Nazi zombie films that includes 1981's THE LAKE OF THE LIVING DEAD (a.k.a. ZOMBIE LAKE), 1981's NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES, and 1983's THE OASIS OF THE LIVING DEAD (a.k.a. BLOODSUCKING NAZI ZOMBIES), to name just a few. None of its cinematic offspring quite reach the guilty-pleasure or cult status of SHOCK WAVES, though.

British horror icon Peter Cushing portrays the former S.S. officer, his interpretation somewhat reminiscent of his turns as Dr. Frankenstein in the films that came out of England's Hammer Studios in the 1960s and early 1970s. Actor John Carradine, a familiar face in American horror from the 1930s through the 1980s, appears in the minor role of the captain of the shipwrecked vessel. Carradine's character dies early in the film, however, so the two great horror veterans never get to share any screen time. A very unfortunate missed opportunity, as such a pairing certainly could've pushed SHOCK WAVES just a smidgen closer to notability.

Actress Brooke Adams has a prominent role as one of the shipwreck survivors. (Indeed, the story actually unfolds like a sort of flashback as her character thinks back to the experience.) Genre fans will recognize her from such films as the 1978 remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, the 1983 film version of Stephen King's THE DEAD ZONE, a cameo in Larry Cohen's 1985 horror satire THE STUFF, and many others.

The edition of SHOCK WAVES on DVD from the folks at Blue Underground is pretty good. Considering that the film was shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm, and taking into account the fact that the disc was digitized from the director's personal copy of the film (the only complete version known to exist, according to the DVD jacket notes), this transfer--in anamorphic widescreen at the film's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1--looks quite good. In fact, when compared to the crappy video versions previously available, it's easy to forgive the minor filmic artifacts and the sometimes soft details.

And the DVD has some great bonus material, too. The best is the feature commentary with director Ken Wiederhorn, make-up man Alan Ormsby, and filmmaker Fred Olen Ray. The trio are delightfully glib and candid, offering lots of humorous and informative anecdotes regarding their experiences in making low-budget horror. There's an interview with star Luke Halpin, who offers some info about his costars and some of his memories about making the film, and there are also a few radio spots, a television spot, and the film's theatrical trailer.

As far as films go, SHOCK WAVES is not the best that Blue Underground has to offer, but it's nonetheless one of those fun guilty pleasures that fans of schlocky low-budget horror will want to add to their DVD collections.

SHOCK WAVES
AN EXCELLENT,ENTERTAINING CLASSIC!VERY CREEPY AND SCARY.WELL WORTH THE PURCHASE.CHECK OUT THIS A+ MOVIE YOU WILL DEFINITELY ENJOY!!!

"And now they have returned"
Once again, William Lustig's company Blue Underground released another cult classic film on DVD. This time around, it is the 1977 zombie flick "Shock Waves." Zombie pictures are usually quite formulaic; some unexplainable event-a plague, virus, radiation exposure, military project gone horribly awry, or some similar disaster of epic proportions-results in the deceased rising from their graves to wreak havoc on the living. Over the top gore is the usual result from interactions between ravaging zombies and their hapless living victims. George Romero started the modern fascination with the undead in his black and white classic "Night of the Living Dead." More films followed from Romero and from other directors. For instance, Lucio Fulci scored points with his ultra gooey 1979 "Zombie." Recently, Danny Boyle of "Trainspotting" fame attempted to rework the formula in "28 Days Later" by having his creatures falling victim to an extreme rage type virus. "Shock Waves" is different from these films in that there is no gore, the dead have not risen en masse to destroy humanity, and these zombies are not interested in consuming their victims. Surprisingly, "Shock Waves" carries a 'PG' rating.

A group of vacationers on a charted boat encounter trouble when a strange weather condition sends the boat off course. The captain of the vessel (played by John Carradine) downplays the entire incident in an attempt to soothe his passengers' frayed nerves, but even he is slightly worried about what's going on. His navigator Keith (Luke Halpin) expresses concern, too, especially when the boat nearly runs into an abandoned freighter in the middle of the night. As for the passengers, only Norman (Jack Davidson) makes a lot of noise about being lost at sea. The other travelers, including Norman's wife Beverly (D.J. Sidney), Rose (Brooke Adams), and Chuck (Fred Bush) seem to take it all in stride. When that wrecked freighter floats by, however, the tension ratchets up considerably. For one thing, the two boats touched just enough to push our group's ship onto a coral reef. Stranded without a radio-Carradine's character inexplicably tossed it overboard when it would not work-the crew and passengers row to a nearby island. There they find an abandoned building inhabited by a threatening former SS commander (Peter Cushing) who tells them a weird story about the freighter now sitting on the rocks offshore.

According to this ex-military officer, he was in charge of a special division of the SS during the war called Der Toden Korps, or the Death Corps, an outfit composed of criminal elements of society turned into some sort of living/non-living soldiers by German scientists. The results were horrific, and as the war ended Cushing's character sank his vessel rather than turn these odd hybrids over to the Allies. Now, it seems the soldiers have risen from the seabed and returned to their commander. The remaining crew and passengers of the charter boat are now caught on an island populated by zombies clad in military uniforms and wearing dark goggles that have the ability to function underwater. These very creepy looking zombies for some reason wish to destroy everyone on the island. It is going to be very difficult to get off an atoll without a boat, and phones are out of the question. The people trapped in this situation will need to use their wits if they want to survive.

Nothing in this summary gives away important aspects of the movie. In fact, you will learn most of this information from the film's short introduction and from the trailer included as an extra. What the trailer will not give you is a sense of the film's creepy atmosphere and claustrophobic environment. Aside from the performances, which are all great for a low budget thriller, it is the island, the zombies, and the musical score that raises the goose bumps on your arms. Setting the story on a small tropical island completely out of touch with the rest of society imbues the film with a distinct sense of isolation, an isolation the filmmakers punch up on a routine basis with lingering shots of the vacant sea and the empty terrain of the island. Moreover, the zombies are downright ominous. This particular bunch of SS soldiers was trained to fight and live underwater, so when they arrive on the island they tend to move in and out of the ocean. There's a great shot of the Toden Korps "waking up" and rising out of the sea that recalls to some extent Nosferatu rising from his coffin in F.W. Murnau's classic film. And don't forget that music! A more brooding synth score would be difficult to find. It has that late 1970s and early 1980s feel to it without sounding cheesy. These three elements make the movie; so much so that I hardly missed the gore that usually accompanies any true zombie film.

The movie has a few plot problems. How, for example, is it possible for zombies to remain underwater for thirty years yet their uniforms are still intact? Too, the Rose character figures out how to stop the zombies yet no one else seems interested. The only thing mentioned is a vague reference to the SS soldiers despising the light. If I knew how to survive in a situation like this, I would tell everyone around me how to do it. Still, these problems don't hamper the overall effect of the movie. The Blue Underground DVD contains a short interview with actor Luke Halpin, a commentary track, a trailer, television and radio advertisements, and a detailed gallery. The transfer quality, although in widescreen, isn't very good. Colors are hazy and washed out with significant grain marring the picture. It's surprising to see a Blue Underground transfer of less than stellar quality. Horror fans should pick up "Shock Waves" in a hurry. It's a nice addition to your zombies run amuck collection.

Good plot for a B-movie
During the war with Nazi Germany several Allied units reported coming across SS units that were virtual killing machines and would fight only with their barehands. It would seem that Nazi scientists experimented on the bodies of German soldiers killed in action. The individuals of course were the absolute worst sort (sadists, murderers, war criminals, etc.) and that is saying alot seeing it is Nazi Germany! These individuals were given a unit entitled Toten Korps ala the Death Corps. This experiment had some success but these quasi zombie like SS soldiers were uncontrolable and were pulled off the battlefields for further study. As the war was drawing to a conclusion the last remaining squad of Toten Korps was put to sea to await further orders which never come. The commander (Peter Cushing) scuttles the ship. The ship and her 'cargo' are condemened to the ocean floor....for now anyway!

The movie starts off many year later with a boat load of tourists and crew who happen to ram the old wreck stirring up its 'cargo.' The crew and passengers take refuge on a nearby deserted island populated only by the former SS Commander Peter Cushing who is in hiding. Naturally the SS zombie soldiers lay siege to the island and begin picking off the crew and tourists.

That is Shockwaves in a nutshell. The plot is great and it is what makes this movie. The acting is good for a B movie and it does create an erie atmosphere. I would recomend it because it is unique. This is not a run of the mill zombie flik with buckets of gore and pathetic special effects. This is , again, a well done B-movie! Thumbs up on this one! ... Read more

Description

The tragic story of Dr. Samuel Mudd of Maryland, who in 1865 was arrested for his alleged complicity in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and sentenced by an illegal military court to a lifetime of hard labor at the American penal colony of Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas.The unfortunate Mudd, whose only "crime" was to set the broken leg of a mud-caked stranger – who turned out to be John Wilkes Booth – endures the cruelties of the sadistic commandant and the condemnation of the public at large, until his selfless courage during a yellow fever epidemic earns him a pardon by President Andrew Johnson.The film implicates Lincoln’s secretary of war Edwin Stanton, whom some conspiracy theorists now believe was behind the assassination plot. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Not much like the Tv show, but still a great movie
I know that "Flipper" is only averaging 3 stars because a lot of poople don't like it much because it's not anything like the Tv show. I grew up watching Flipper the Tv show and it was always one of my favorites, but I still have to say that this movie is a good movie even if it's not all that much inspired by the Tv show. The main theme between the Tv show and the movie are basically the same, both are mainly about the story of a boy befriended by a dolphin named Flipper. However, there are a few differences. In this movie, there's not a Bud character, there's only Sandy, unlike the show. Also, Flipper won't be saving anything or anybody in this movie.

In "Flipper" the movie, Sandy (Elijah Wood) has to stay a summer with his uncle, Porter (Paul Hogan), although he doesn't want to and he doesn't even know his uncle. Sandy doesn't exactly get along with his uncle that lives mainly off of Spaghetti O's at first. If it wasn't for Sandy befriending Flipper, there's no telling what would've happened. Flipper befriends Sandy, which leads to Sandy making more friends including Kim (Jessica Wesson), Sandy getting along better with his uncle, and even some adventures and misadventures along the way.

Even though "Flipper" isn't much like the old Tv classic, I still thought that this was a great movie. It has its drama throughout and it even has a few adventurous parts such as an encounter with a hammerhead shark and busting some criminals. It also has good underwater photography and pretty good acting. I recommend anybody who used to watch Flipper the Tv show or anyone who likes dolphins or just likes good movies to get "Flipper."

Flipper is 'flippin' fun!
Imagine spending an entire summer with your 'lowlife deadbeat, loser, hippie dropout' uncle. Unfortunately for Sandy, this is exactly his impending vacation.
Sent to the Florida Keys from Chicago, Sandy (Elijah Wood) is expected to 'blow Chili Peppers laminates' back home for a bleak stay with his salty Uncle Porter (Paul Hogan).
But just at the zenith of holiday horror, Sandy befriends a feisty, orphaned dolphin, Flipper, accompanied by a local girl, Kim, commencing what is to become a 'total blast' of an action-packed vacation of his life.
'Flipper' is the story of friendship and high-tide sea adventure driven by an exciting and emotion-charged story. A Universal release directed by Alan Shapiro with brilliant underwater photography, 'Flipper' is a must-see movie. "You're going to flip over Flipper" (American Movie Classics) and "Splash out on a copy of Flipper - great for old and young alike" (New Weekly).
Recommended for the young and the young-at-heart, and being one of my all-time favourites, 'Flipper' is as 'flippin' fun as it is heartwarming.

Disappointing and not for kids
The name of the movie is misleading. Very little is about flipper. It's about a boy, an older man and their problems. Not much of their behaviour that I would call good guidance for children. Even worse, the movies' first scences have dolphins shown as they are being shot by sports fishermen. I don't see how that can be entertaining to kids.
Sorry, but this one shouldn't be allowed to have the name "Flipper" on it.

Great Flick
I originally bought this movie for my 9-year-old daughter who is a huge fan of both dolphins and Elijah Wood. I didn't expect, however, that the entire family would enjoy it as much as we did! The story was interesting, suspensful and heart-warming. The acting was good -- not cheesy at all (as was another reviewer's opinion). The only complaint I had was the occasional (and unecessary) profanity ... which from what I could tell would be the only reason for it's PG rating. Otherwise this a great movie for the entire family and I would highly recommend it.

An Anoying Aussie + A Dolphin + A Cute American = Cheesy
This one is for fans only. Fans of Paul Hogan (he stays the same wya he ALWAYS is...), Animals (or just Dolphins), Elijah Wood or Happy Movies will all love this! (But few others).
The Story of a Boy, Sandy (Wood), with a sad life. After being forced to spend the summer with his Uncle Porter Ricks (Hogan) - getting paid $100 a week "just for the summer" - He finds a dolphin and saves it life. They become good friends and after finding out the water is being polluted, he has to save the day and his friend!

If you hate cheesy movies, you'll hate this one. But For Fans of Elijah Wood: He is alful hot in this flick and he takes his shirt off (i love the bit where Flipper whacks him in the butt and he falls in the water and his shirt comes off), and also he's so cute with the wet look! :D
Fans of the Annoying Crocodile Dundee (I'm begging you to belive me.....not all Aussies are like that!) will like that he stays the same way he always does. Haters of him will hate that fact. he is discusting.
Although cheesy at times, it's a nice happy theamed movie which will keep the kids quite!

3 - and a half stars ... Read more

Reviews (25)

A Cherished Favorite!
Mary Martin, the first of three famous actresses to play Peter in this musical, gives a classic performance in television's first "in color" made-for-TV special. Her rendition of "Neverland" remains unmatched by any of her successors. Cyril Ritchard is wonderful as the mischievous Captain hook. You will sing along, laugh and cry as you watch this 1950's Broadway show reassembled for the 1960 video special. Unfortunately, unlike the pristine video and DVD recorded in early 2000 of Cathy Rigby in the same musical (also available at Amazon.com) the 1960 video quality is poor by comparison. Never the less this is a classic you don't want to miss!

Peter Pan in Living Color .. in Brooklyn!
This DVD is copied from the 1960 NBC-TV version of the Mary Martin Broadway musical. It was done on live TV [videotape was still experimental] each year from 1955 on. There's a black-and-white kinescope version of the 1955 telecast "broadcast in compatible color and black-and-white" in the NBC news archives. The 1955 telecast is considered to be the first adaptation of a Broadway musical to be broadcast live, and in color.

In 1960, the folks at NBC decided to put the classic to videotape, and assembled the cast at NBC's studios in Brooklyn .. the only NBC studio outside of Burbank that had sufficient ceiling height so stagehands could do the intricate wire technique that Martin and her fellow actors used to fly through the sets.

Think about this "Peter Pan" as a period piece; a slice of television's past that is fortunately well-preserved. With its grand, over-saturated RCA color ... the Broadway staging ... with choreography by the famed Jerome Robbins ... and its mono soundtrack. Not to mention the non-politically-correct Indians .. and a superb Cyril Ritchard Captain Hook.

Color TV was only about 7 years old as a mass medium when this production was captured on tape. Color videotape was only 3 years old. The original tape was 2" in width, and the original tape container weighed close to 15 pounds! The cameras weighed upwards of 300 pounds, and were connected by cables as big as a large man's wrist. There were no zoom lenses. You can see some of the camera shakes in many of the dolly and tracking shots.

The tape was shown yearly around Christmas time by NBC throughout the 1960s and '70s. Then some problems ensued between the charity in Britain that holds the rights to the J.M. Barrie original, and NBC. In the late 1980's the late NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff was able to clear up the rights problems, get the tape transferred and restored to modern standards. Could use a further cleaning-up using the newest restoration technology.

Enjoy, have a good, safe laugh ... and just remember you're looking at history!

By FAR the best version!
For baby boomers and their young children, THIS is the version you want. If you loved this, don't waste your money on the latest 2004 dark version which is comprised of non-stop action, violence, and special effects without any qualitative plot (what there is, is a sad perversion of the story) nor enough attention to casting. Of course, most of the X generation seems to love it-what a sad commentary! In comparison, this (Mary Martin) version is wholesome and won't give your kids nightmares!

Pretty Good! :)
I remember first hearing about this classic when I was in Elementary school and wanting to see what all the talk was about. But when I realized that a woman (Mary Martin), was playing the boy, Peter Pan, I thought it was different and weird. But I soon fell in love with the characters and the music in the movie, and soon forgot all about a girl playing a boy character.
Even at my young age, I figured out how the character Peter Pan flew, with cable wires. Though I could see the wires everytime Peter left the ground, the music and the atmosphere of the movie made me smile and wished that I could fly like Peter.

I grew up with classic movies by appreciating the movie each classic gives us. I highly reccomend this movie to children of all ages (even children that refuse to grow up! ;)_) by introducing them to not only a story that has gone through generations of children, but to a 'real' classic movie that today's generation can appreciate. More people need to appreciate older classic movies and the talented actors and actresses worked so hard 50, 60, 70 years ago.

Simply the Best!!!
I was about five years old when I first saw this on television. (Dating myself, of course - circa 1954) It hasn't lost its charm at all, and Mary Martin is the Peter Pan of all time. Not because I am biased, but when you first see her, as I did when I was a child, you forget about gender. She is magical, and musical, and mystical, and she embodies the character of J.M. Barrie's "Pan" to the hilt. Then there are the songs - "I'm Flying," "Never Land," "I Won't Grow Up," and others, and it's incredibly enchanting.

Cyril Ritchard is marvelous as Captain Hook, as well, and he embodies the role as well. You know that he's gone wrong, and the semi-comic, don't take me to seriously mischief he brings to the role is neat. He sings on "Tarantella," and "Captain Hook," and when the Crocodile makes its appearance, you are at first saddened, but glad that he has gone away.

All in all, this is superb family entertainment, and it is highly recommended. 10 stars would be more like it!!! ... Read more

Description

Beneath the living, beyond the dead, they rose from the depths of hell's ocean! In the dark days of World War II, the Nazi High Command ordered its scientists to create the Death Corps, a top secret race of indestructible zombie storm troopers--un-living, unfeeling, unstoppable monstrosities able to kill with their bare hands. No member of this horrific SS unit was ever captured by the Allied forces--and somewhere off the coast of Florida, they have survived. Peter Cushing (The Curse of Frankenstein), Brooke Adams (The Dead Zone), and John Carradine (The Howling) star in this suspenseful and genuinely creepy shocker co-written and directed by Ken Wiederhorn (Return of the Living Dead 2). One of the great horror "sleepers" of the '70s, "Shock Waves" has now been transferred from the director's own vault print and digitally restored for this premiere DVD release! ... Read more

Reviews (25)

We've Been Hit By A Ghoooooooost Ship
God bless the kind folks at Blue Underground who like these midnight horror flicks as much as the fans, and have the funds to put them out on dvd. Shock Waves is one of the many fun titles they have released. I originally saw this movie on USA when they had a show called "Saturday Nightmares" back in the late eighties. This movie's always been a favorite of mine coz of it's concept and because of Peter Cushing. Just the idea of the Nazis screwing around with science and the supernatural to make zombie soldiers is creepy-and it's not too crazy a notion to assume they actually might have tried that. I've always like the whole stranded on an island concept for some reason. Plus, I'm not a big fan of the water, so the fact that all this chaos emerges from the ocean adds a little depth(Get it? Depth? Ocean? Water?)to the scariness for me. Yeah, it's cheap, the acting is mediocre(except Cushing of course), it's corny at times, but it has something. The look of the zombies, the way they move, the way they stare at people.......it's creepy. Cushing makes too early of an exit as well as Carradine, but what can ya do? For a "zombie" film there is a surprising lack of gore, but that's no big deal coz the movie goes more for the suspense angle, and succeeds most of the time. Roger Waters samples this film for a song on his Amused To Death album. That's bizarre. I guess Roger Waters likes Shock Waves as well. Could Roger Waters lead you astray? NO! So watch this.

From the Depths of Hell's Ocean Comes...Nazi Zombies!
On a desolate, nondescript Caribbean island, shipwreck survivors are surprised to discover that an eccentric old German doctor resides there in an abandoned and dilapidated hotel. They soon learn, however, that the old Teutonic medical man is more that just eccentric; he's a former S.S. officer who has continued with the experiments assigned to him by Der Führer. And it isn't long before the castaways find themselves battling for survival against a corps of amphibious Nazi zombies!

This off-the-wall, low-budget horror film is just as goofy as it sounds, but it's still pretty good fun. And believe it or not, it actually spawned a bizarre sub-genre of Nazi zombie films that includes 1981's THE LAKE OF THE LIVING DEAD (a.k.a. ZOMBIE LAKE), 1981's NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES, and 1983's THE OASIS OF THE LIVING DEAD (a.k.a. BLOODSUCKING NAZI ZOMBIES), to name just a few. None of its cinematic offspring quite reach the guilty-pleasure or cult status of SHOCK WAVES, though.

British horror icon Peter Cushing portrays the former S.S. officer, his interpretation somewhat reminiscent of his turns as Dr. Frankenstein in the films that came out of England's Hammer Studios in the 1960s and early 1970s. Actor John Carradine, a familiar face in American horror from the 1930s through the 1980s, appears in the minor role of the captain of the shipwrecked vessel. Carradine's character dies early in the film, however, so the two great horror veterans never get to share any screen time. A very unfortunate missed opportunity, as such a pairing certainly could've pushed SHOCK WAVES just a smidgen closer to notability.

Actress Brooke Adams has a prominent role as one of the shipwreck survivors. (Indeed, the story actually unfolds like a sort of flashback as her character thinks back to the experience.) Genre fans will recognize her from such films as the 1978 remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, the 1983 film version of Stephen King's THE DEAD ZONE, a cameo in Larry Cohen's 1985 horror satire THE STUFF, and many others.

The edition of SHOCK WAVES on DVD from the folks at Blue Underground is pretty good. Considering that the film was shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm, and taking into account the fact that the disc was digitized from the director's personal copy of the film (the only complete version known to exist, according to the DVD jacket notes), this transfer--in anamorphic widescreen at the film's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1--looks quite good. In fact, when compared to the crappy video versions previously available, it's easy to forgive the minor filmic artifacts and the sometimes soft details.

And the DVD has some great bonus material, too. The best is the feature commentary with director Ken Wiederhorn, make-up man Alan Ormsby, and filmmaker Fred Olen Ray. The trio are delightfully glib and candid, offering lots of humorous and informative anecdotes regarding their experiences in making low-budget horror. There's an interview with star Luke Halpin, who offers some info about his costars and some of his memories about making the film, and there are also a few radio spots, a television spot, and the film's theatrical trailer.

As far as films go, SHOCK WAVES is not the best that Blue Underground has to offer, but it's nonetheless one of those fun guilty pleasures that fans of schlocky low-budget horror will want to add to their DVD collections.

SHOCK WAVES
AN EXCELLENT,ENTERTAINING CLASSIC!VERY CREEPY AND SCARY.WELL WORTH THE PURCHASE.CHECK OUT THIS A+ MOVIE YOU WILL DEFINITELY ENJOY!!!

"And now they have returned"
Once again, William Lustig's company Blue Underground released another cult classic film on DVD. This time around, it is the 1977 zombie flick "Shock Waves." Zombie pictures are usually quite formulaic; some unexplainable event-a plague, virus, radiation exposure, military project gone horribly awry, or some similar disaster of epic proportions-results in the deceased rising from their graves to wreak havoc on the living. Over the top gore is the usual result from interactions between ravaging zombies and their hapless living victims. George Romero started the modern fascination with the undead in his black and white classic "Night of the Living Dead." More films followed from Romero and from other directors. For instance, Lucio Fulci scored points with his ultra gooey 1979 "Zombie." Recently, Danny Boyle of "Trainspotting" fame attempted to rework the formula in "28 Days Later" by having his creatures falling victim to an extreme rage type virus. "Shock Waves" is different from these films in that there is no gore, the dead have not risen en masse to destroy humanity, and these zombies are not interested in consuming their victims. Surprisingly, "Shock Waves" carries a 'PG' rating.

A group of vacationers on a charted boat encounter trouble when a strange weather condition sends the boat off course. The captain of the vessel (played by John Carradine) downplays the entire incident in an attempt to soothe his passengers' frayed nerves, but even he is slightly worried about what's going on. His navigator Keith (Luke Halpin) expresses concern, too, especially when the boat nearly runs into an abandoned freighter in the middle of the night. As for the passengers, only Norman (Jack Davidson) makes a lot of noise about being lost at sea. The other travelers, including Norman's wife Beverly (D.J. Sidney), Rose (Brooke Adams), and Chuck (Fred Bush) seem to take it all in stride. When that wrecked freighter floats by, however, the tension ratchets up considerably. For one thing, the two boats touched just enough to push our group's ship onto a coral reef. Stranded without a radio-Carradine's character inexplicably tossed it overboard when it would not work-the crew and passengers row to a nearby island. There they find an abandoned building inhabited by a threatening former SS commander (Peter Cushing) who tells them a weird story about the freighter now sitting on the rocks offshore.

According to this ex-military officer, he was in charge of a special division of the SS during the war called Der Toden Korps, or the Death Corps, an outfit composed of criminal elements of society turned into some sort of living/non-living soldiers by German scientists. The results were horrific, and as the war ended Cushing's character sank his vessel rather than turn these odd hybrids over to the Allies. Now, it seems the soldiers have risen from the seabed and returned to their commander. The remaining crew and passengers of the charter boat are now caught on an island populated by zombies clad in military uniforms and wearing dark goggles that have the ability to function underwater. These very creepy looking zombies for some reason wish to destroy everyone on the island. It is going to be very difficult to get off an atoll without a boat, and phones are out of the question. The people trapped in this situation will need to use their wits if they want to survive.

Nothing in this summary gives away important aspects of the movie. In fact, you will learn most of this information from the film's short introduction and from the trailer included as an extra. What the trailer will not give you is a sense of the film's creepy atmosphere and claustrophobic environment. Aside from the performances, which are all great for a low budget thriller, it is the island, the zombies, and the musical score that raises the goose bumps on your arms. Setting the story on a small tropical island completely out of touch with the rest of society imbues the film with a distinct sense of isolation, an isolation the filmmakers punch up on a routine basis with lingering shots of the vacant sea and the empty terrain of the island. Moreover, the zombies are downright ominous. This particular bunch of SS soldiers was trained to fight and live underwater, so when they arrive on the island they tend to move in and out of the ocean. There's a great shot of the Toden Korps "waking up" and rising out of the sea that recalls to some extent Nosferatu rising from his coffin in F.W. Murnau's classic film. And don't forget that music! A more brooding synth score would be difficult to find. It has that late 1970s and early 1980s feel to it without sounding cheesy. These three elements make the movie; so much so that I hardly missed the gore that usually accompanies any true zombie film.

The movie has a few plot problems. How, for example, is it possible for zombies to remain underwater for thirty years yet their uniforms are still intact? Too, the Rose character figures out how to stop the zombies yet no one else seems interested. The only thing mentioned is a vague reference to the SS soldiers despising the light. If I knew how to survive in a situation like this, I would tell everyone around me how to do it. Still, these problems don't hamper the overall effect of the movie. The Blue Underground DVD contains a short interview with actor Luke Halpin, a commentary track, a trailer, television and radio advertisements, and a detailed gallery. The transfer quality, although in widescreen, isn't very good. Colors are hazy and washed out with significant grain marring the picture. It's surprising to see a Blue Underground transfer of less than stellar quality. Horror fans should pick up "Shock Waves" in a hurry. It's a nice addition to your zombies run amuck collection.

Good plot for a B-movie
During the war with Nazi Germany several Allied units reported coming across SS units that were virtual killing machines and would fight only with their barehands. It would seem that Nazi scientists experimented on the bodies of German soldiers killed in action. The individuals of course were the absolute worst sort (sadists, murderers, war criminals, etc.) and that is saying alot seeing it is Nazi Germany! These individuals were given a unit entitled Toten Korps ala the Death Corps. This experiment had some success but these quasi zombie like SS soldiers were uncontrolable and were pulled off the battlefields for further study. As the war was drawing to a conclusion the last remaining squad of Toten Korps was put to sea to await further orders which never come. The commander (Peter Cushing) scuttles the ship. The ship and her 'cargo' are condemened to the ocean floor....for now anyway!

The movie starts off many year later with a boat load of tourists and crew who happen to ram the old wreck stirring up its 'cargo.' The crew and passengers take refuge on a nearby deserted island populated only by the former SS Commander Peter Cushing who is in hiding. Naturally the SS zombie soldiers lay siege to the island and begin picking off the crew and tourists.

That is Shockwaves in a nutshell. The plot is great and it is what makes this movie. The acting is good for a B movie and it does create an erie atmosphere. I would recomend it because it is unique. This is not a run of the mill zombie flik with buckets of gore and pathetic special effects. This is , again, a well done B-movie! Thumbs up on this one! ... Read more