MartinHafer In the 1970s and 80s, there were quite a few films like "Shock Waves"...films involving Nazi zombies or some other zombies living on some island and which harass a group of tourists. So, when I saw this film on YouTube I thought I'd seen it before...but hadn't. Instead, I saw a film a lot like it...and there's a good chance you have as well! The picture begins with a short prologue about Nazi super soldiers who were developed by scientists near the end of the war. The credits roll and the story then begins. A young woman is found adrift in a dingy out in what you assume is the Caribbean. She's hysterical at first and when she composes herself, she thinks back to what she's been through...and this extended flashback makes up nearly all the film. Some tourists are out on a really crappy boat run by a weird old captain (John Carradine). They run adrift on a reef and are stuck. The next day, the captain is missing and everyone else makes there way to shore...as there is an island nearby. But they also discover the captain's body on the way....and that's really not a good sign! They also discover that this abandoned island isn't so abandoned after all, an old German guy with a mega-cool scar on his face (Peter Cushing) is living in what looks like an abandoned mansion. He insists that their timing stinks and they must get off the island ASAP....and then they discover another dead member of their group! He then explains that a ship filled with zombie-Nazi warriors has somehow returned to the island and the soldiers are pretty much unstoppable...so they need to HURRY and leave!!So is any of this nonsense any good? In other words, although the plot is silly, is it entertaining and well made? While the idea of the film is cool and the make-up and special effects are effective, the characters and what they do are, at times, incredibly stupid. The character 'Norman' is a good example. He's NOT like a real person at all and is simply an annoying clichéd caricature. There's also a super-dopey scene involving a sailboat that simply defies logic. How could these folks be THAT stupid?! It's hard to fathom and group of survivors being this intent on offing themselves!! And, this sort of stupidity keeps occurring...making them too dumb to live! This severely impacts the film....taking it from a neat idea that COULD have worked to yet another schlocky low budget horror film that you could easily skip.

Andrew Huggett Slow ponderous Nazi zombie flick – quite atmospheric this film with some very effective electronic music. Strong similarities with the Doctor Who serial 'The Sea Devils' (made 5 years before this film). I like the way the Nazi zombies keep appearing out of the water behind their victims or suddenly appear with their heads popping up above the water (although this does get repetitive). This type of zombie has an aversion to sunlight and they don't actually eat their victims they just want to strangle them and cause mayhem. The first third of the film is a little disjointed. The dark hulk of a shipwreck our protagonists encounter is suitably sinister and dominates the island – sitting as it does right on the horizon (there are several cut-a-way shots emphasising it's presence and signifying that this is the source of the evil). The film is claustrophobic and has scenes in broad daylight which are just as creepy (if not more so) than the scenes set at night time. Not a bad effort but no classic of the genre. The editing of the print I saw seemed disjointed and I suspect sequences are missing (what happened to the original boat for example?). Might be worth tracking down a better more complete print for a future screening as the film might (just) warrant a re-assessment. Peter Cushing and John Carradine are polished off quite quickly and not really well utilised (they do not appear together in the same scene within this film).

shanakin Just watched it again today and it doesn't freak me out or scare me but still a very cool flick. The movie has some true atmosphere that so many movies are lacking now. Great electronic music score that just goes so well with the movie. Saw this movie when I was like 9 or 10 on a Saturday afternoon matinée in around the late 70's when there were only three stations in my area in my small Texas town that I grew up in. After watching it, it completely left me in a sense of dread. I can distinctly remember riding my bike to a friends house and discussing it with a friend who happened to watch it as well and we made up a game long forgotten until today of re-watching it of us being attacked by the zombies and that we had to get away. It was probably during one of my summers off from school. Crazy memory to remember but like I said a long forgotten until today upon writing the review. What else can I say, Peter Cushing is solid as always. Who else can have a scene talking about the totem corp and how they came to be and make it not sound completely nuts. The rest of the cast is good, Brooke Adams and Luke Halpin carry the movie quite well.I think what I truly take away from the picture is like I said it doesn't have the power to freak me out but still creep me out enough that it leaves me with a weird feeling afterwords. True cult movie if there ever was one....

bkoganbing A group of passengers charter John Carradine's boat for a little pleasure cruise and find themselves on a mysterious island where an old SS Commander Peter Cushing is keeping an old experiment going from World War II. Back in the day when manpower was getting scarce the Nazis started creating zombies out of dead soldiers. A few even got into combat as legends tell. But it was too late and now Cushing sits out on Caribbean island waiting the day when the Reich shall rise again.The only surprise here is that John Carradine is not the mad scientist, but merely an eccentric old sea salt. The whole thing is fun and quite campy. But in an unintentional way.