Rammbock: Berlin Undead says ‘Enough’ with New York City Zombie Outbreaks
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Rammbock chooses Berlin Germany as zombie ground zero. This one has a little love, a little blood, a bit of ‘Rear Window’ and not a zombie to be found.
Written by The Horror Czar, Don Sumner
April 30, 2011
Release: May 4, 2011 (U.S. Limited)
Directed by: Marvin Kren
Written by: Benjamin Hessler
Starring:
Michael Fuith as Michael
Theo Trebs as Harper
Anka Graczyk as Gabi
Katharina Rivilis as Semra
Michael (Michael Fuith) is distraught; His 7 year girlfriend Gabi (Anka Graczyk) has decided to more onto greener pastures, yet he still loves her so. In a last-ditch attempt to turn the tides and recapture her heart he goes to visit Dear Gabi with the excuse of returning her keys – but not after rehearsing that first conversation with a friend on the street of course.
When Michael arrives Gabi is nowhere to be found; only a couple of handyman-type guys milling around the flat trying to fix things. When one of them hurts his hand in an attempt to loosen a radiator pipe… it begins. Like magic the would-be plumber and thousands of other Berliners suddenly become white-eyed frothy-mouthed zombie type things, racing around in a rage in search of… well, not blood or flesh to feast on necessarily, but in search of healthy folks whom they proceed to bite and kill. Now Michael and the youngster handyman Harper (Theo Trebs) must work together to survive, and locate Michael’s lost love Gabi – if she’s still alive.
Rammbock: Berlin Undead is going to automatically feel “art house” to some due to the German dialogue and subtitles. It is worth it to stick to it through the early discomfort though, because this film has a lot going on. Shot on 35mm the look and feel are rich and smooth. The cinematography and sound betray a moderate healthy budget in spite of a decidedly Indie sensibility. As a German zombie-like love story it would have to be Indie I imagine… although German cinema is not my forte it is safe to imagine that the “big G studios” are churning out their version of Meg Ryan or Angelina Jolie on an average day rather than apocalyptic horror with foamy-mouthed old ladies playing “Heeeeerrrreee’s Johnny!”
The performance of Michael Fuith as Michael in Rammbock is exceptional, largely because he appears in the beginning to be completely un-exceptional. Sad, depressed and “whipped” guy with no confidence planning to crawl to Gabi and beg for another chance… looking all milky white and pathetic; Fuith does a perfect job forcing Michael to rise to the occasion and find an ounce of heroism without succumbing to the “nerd to superhero” caricature that could have come about. His character is developed deeply, as are all of the primary players in this well-written film. Each had the opportunity to become ridiculously typical and instead opts for ranges of human emotion that added greatly to the story and mood of the presentation.
The Rammbock: Berlin Undead story is an interesting mix of love, despair, escape and black comedy. This is a story that can be talked about afterward, zombie-like creatures aside, because of the longing Michael has for Gabi, her mixed-messages regarding her feelings about the situation, etc. etc. Sounds like a chick flick, and might well have been were it not for the end of the world coming along. Even there, though, the typical sappy unrequited love or zippy “boy meets girl, boy loses girl” were thankfully avoided, giving the film a sense of being genuine in its sentimentality. Even that, though, wouldn’t be enough for most horror freaks were it not for the “zombies”. Let’s talk about them…
The marketing materials and poster for Rammbock make an issue of the “zombie” part of the equation, but these monsters are about as far from zombies as a horror villain can be. They don’t die before they reanimate, they don’t feast on human flesh, and they don’t even mutter “brrrraaaaaiinnsss!” or anything even remotely zombie-like. In fact, it appears that they can indeed die, furthering the reality that they were never dead in the first place. They are unthinking beasts that bite their victims on the neck resulting in fountains of blood, though, and certainly cannot be reasoned with. In that regard they are indeed zombies – just not in the horror sense. “Not a zombie” zombies, more like.
I can’t decide if the length of Rammbock bugs me or not. Just a little over 60 minutes in length, this is on the verge of being a short if one were to play the numbers. Everything happens as it should in those 60 minutes though – without added fluff that detracts from the experience. I did have a moment of “is it over?” when the credits rolled, but soon realized that adding anything more would have muddied the waters. I would rather notice a film is a little short than complain that it’s not over yet, that much is certain.
Rammbock: Berlin Undead is a very good film. Deep characters, great story, neighbors peering at each other through the courtyard as mayhem transpires below make Rammbock one to catch during it’s limited release if you can.
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