Starring Peter Cushing as a repentant Nazi commandant, Shock Waves (1977) actually predates Bloodsucking Nazi Zombies by four years, but given that its such an oddity, were not sure it can legitimately lay claim to being a forerunner of the subgenre. Instead of your usual rotting revenants in tattered uniform, Shock Waves features the only submarine Nazis that didnt need u-boats. The results of macabre medical experiments, the Death Korps are white-skinned, clammy-looking creatures wearing black fetish gear and goggles, created to be a powerful weapon for the Third Reich until they prove impossible to properly control. When it becomes apparent that Germany will lose the war, Cushing elects to sink the ship they use as a base. Naturally, sinking the ship doesnt end the threat they pose, and they return from their watery grave rather narked, because of course they do. These are Nazi secret weapons were talking about. Surviving unseen with a massive chip on their shoulder for fifty-odd years is what they do best. Ken Wiederhorn directed this and the sequel to Return Of The Living Dead, and not a whole lot else. Its a bit of a shame, because hes a capable shooter, and the extra imagination is appreciated but the zombies here tend towards drowning their victims rather than rending them, and are defeated, not by headshots or fire, but by having their goggles removed, which is odd. Added to that, the lack of Nazi iconography throughout kind of removes a lot of the point of their origin story, which would be to take advantage of the impact of said iconography. Not quite Nazis, and not quite zombies? Hmmm.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
