A German zombie movie, well why not...

A short summary; Michael comes to Berlin to seek his ex-girlfriend Gabi, and comes head to head with an outbreak that turns people into zombies. There, short and to the point, the movie just unfurls after that, just sit back and watch the show...

Actually, the movie "Rammbock", was rather good. Of course, you have to look past it being in German and all. I am saying that because I, personally, don't think German is a nice sounding language. But the language didn't really prove much of a nuisance to the movie.

The story told in "Rammbock" was appealing and good. It was straight forward and moved on at a brisk pace right from the very beginning. And Marvin Kren, the director, actually managed to put together a fairly decent zombie movie here, and proving it can be done with limited funds as well. And the fact that the movie basically just takes place in a small apartment complex, adds some sense of claustrophobia to the movie. And it worked well.

The lead actor, Michael Fuith, playing Michael, actually was quite good in this role. I can't say that I have seen any of his work before, or that I had even heard of him before this movie. Guess it is fairly obvious that German movies is not that I watch the most of.

One thing that I didn't like about the movie, was the agile zombies that were running around. I am more of a Romero-type zombie fan, wanting zombies to be slow moving and rigid in their movements, after all something called Rigor Mortis will set in once you die, so you shouldn't be all flexible and able to run around. But for those who like movies such as "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later", you will definitely like the zombies in this movie. (Both "28 Days" and "28 Weeks" later are awesome movies, by the way.) Also, the ending was a bit too sassy. You saw it coming a mile away and it was quite cheesy. But hey, in overall, the movie was compelling and thrilling. So this ending can be ignored for the greater picture.

For a non-Hollywood movie, "Rammbock" actually is a good notch on the zombie genre. If it definitely worth checking out for zombie fans, regardless of you liking Romero-zombies or the agile zombies. And while you are at it, check out the French zombie movie "The Horde" (La Horde),it is worth the time as well.

"Rammbock" is a German apocalypse movie from 5 years ago written and directed by Marvin Kren. Kren is considered one of the rising filmmakers here, but I have seen 3 of his films now and I found them all underwhelming. This includes "Blutgletscher", "Berlin Eins", his new hyped crime film and finally this one here. We basically follow a guy who comes to Berlin to visit his ex-girlfriend, but runs into a zombie apocalypse (and a new friend) until he finally finds her. This film only runs for slightly over an hour and this already includes 5 minutes of credits. The two lead actors are known even only to the biggest fans of German cinema from "Das weiße Band" and the previously mentioned "Blutgletscher" or "Michael". And, of course, Kren's mother is on board again as well. No idea why she gets cast all the time in his films, even for some of the biggest characters of the movie, as she is certainly not a great actress.

This little film here is not only about supernatural events, but also has some family drama moments with the background of the reason why the main character comes to Berlin in the first place. It is a bit about love, about friendship, but none of the areas has been displayed and elaborated on convincingly in my opinion. This is why I thought it was a disappointing watch for the most part. Not recommended and the only really good thing about the film is that it is over pretty quickly. Thumbs down.

The movie defaults to German. I had to set up the English language. I also did the English subtitles which didn't match the spoken language. Apparently two different people did the translating without consultation.

Michael arrives in Berlin to see his gf or ex-gf Gabi. In her apartment he finds an infected Toj Johnson type fellow who attacks. He manages to save himself along with a young man named Harper. They are in contact with other people locked in their apartments via shouting out the windows, which is not good because it attracts Olympic sprinting zombies. From the radio broadcast we find out that this is a rabies style virus and adrenaline causes the virus to go to the brain and make one a zombie. If bit, stay calm and take a sedative. (I can see NORML launching a campaign now.) The movie is about their survival and what one will do to survive.

Michael is torn between the microcosm of finding his gf and saving her forks from harm and the macrocosm of the enormity of the situation. It examines the spectrum of human emotions and what we would do when faced with a full blown viral zombie infection.

This movie also needlessly deals with "where do we go to the bathroom" issue. Clearly this is the German mind at work, attempting to place realism in a zombie flick.

The ending was unexpected which is why I liked this movie. Kudos.

No f-bombs, no nudity, no sex. The blood was minimal.