10 Horror Movies With Nazi Villains
"Finally, the truth about Hitler's diabolical master plan can be told...."
Even before America entered WWII, Nazis were cinematic shorthand for evil courtesy of The Great Dictator and Foreign Correspondent, although The Three Stooges also did their bit with You Nazty Spy.
Whether ruled by Hitler’s disembodied head (as in They Saved Hitler’s Brain) or seeking the Ark of the Covenant, they subsequently became the popular culture’s go-to bad guys, with audiences unlikely to weep over the fates meted to the soldiers. Which makes you wonder about their modern equivalent, but that is another matter and enough said.
Unburdened by physics, restraint or the need for historical accuracy, the horror genre seemed like a natural home for Nazis, because what’s scarier than an evil that you can’t kill? From cheap schlock to admittedly clever satire, Nazis were zombified, ridiculed and torn apart in a series of outrageous films that are required viewing for opponents of the right.
Courtesy of Nazisploitation, which Rob Zombie described as “the most bizarre genre”, female Nazis briefly dominated grindhouse screens in the 1970s, torturing a succession of women prisoners in various stages of undress.
If you thought Raiders Of The Lost Ark’s final confrontation was over the top, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
10. Oasis Of The Zombies
Look up “Watching Paint Dry” in any film guide and you will find a review of this tale of WWII soldiers who encounter Nazi zombies in the African desert. Hiding under the pseudonym “A.M. Frank” is director Jess Franco who's no stranger to plodding exploitation films, though here his direction consists of removing the lens cap.
Oasis Of The Zombies is so dull, in fact, that the producers edited in battle sequences lifted from Heroes Without Glory (1971), a forgotten Italian war film. It didn’t make any difference. Given the lack of craftsmanship on display, you’d swear Franco set up the shot and walked away.
In a succession of sequences so interminable you’ll be reaching for the remote, no-name actors spout meaningless gibberish about finding themselves while zombies in shoddy make-up lurch through the desert to an overblown musical score. At least the similarly themed Zombie Lake has some unintentional laughs.