Chloe Review: "Rammbock: Berlin Undead"

"Rammbock: Berlin Undead" (2010)

As Sunday eases to a close, I think we all need a little excitement to spice up the night. Foreign zombies, anyone?

In other words, it’s time for another Chloe Review!

Enjoy!

The Particulars… “Rammbock” (aka “Berlin Undead”) is a German horror movie (yes, that means English subtitles) filmed in Berlin in 2010. I couldn’t find any budget numbers, but I’m suspecting the number was relatively low.

The Chloe Blurb… A brokenhearted, plainly ordinary man is trapped in an apartment building when a virus starts turning the people of Berlin into zombie-like killers. When fate pairs him with a teenage mechanic, the two men reluctantly join forces to survive.

The Players… Excellent. MichaelFuith was superior, but even Theo Trebs  who played the initially bratty teenager grew on me until I was really pulling for the kid. Gabi was especially cast well as I could easily see her and Michael together.

On the Plot… Ordinary zombie fare turns a little extraordinary when set in a quirky apartment block and filled with flaky but exceptionally real characters. The story moved fast without falling into the trap of the cliché. By only straying outside of the apartment building a very few times, the sense of being trapped is conveyed nicely to the viewer until you forget even what city there in, or what country. Having the characters chased from one little room to the next even smaller room over and over until only a crawlspace was their only hope added a nightmare quality to the film that I really enjoyed.

Plot Holes, Miscues and the Like… There be spoilers ahead on this one. Skip if you want to be fully surprised while watching the movie.

          -Where did the young girl come from near the end of the movie (aka Harper’s new girlfriend)? I didn’t notice her in any of the apartment windows in the first half of the film? What purpose did she serve except to add a possible “happy-ish” ending for Harper? If that was the case, it was a stretch… a failed one.

           -How did Gabi get infected? Was she already infected when Michael found her in the attic? Was the virus airborne?

          -Thank you to “the powers that be” for not having the rabbit turn zombie on us, or worse having Michael have to eat the poor thing for food. While the little guy’s fate is assumed to be bad, I appreciate not having that needless angst added to the film. Good decision, guys.

           -A zombie movie with a romantic end for the actual undead. I’ve got to say “Wow!” That takes talent or a really wonderfully messed up head. Riotous applause either way.

And that ends tonight’s Chloe Review. Tomorrow we will return to my obsessive fretting over hearing word about “Ravenscar” from Dreamspinner Press this week. See? You’ll be wishing for some more Deutsch zombies then, won’t you? lol

Until tomorrow…

Chloe