I caught Shock Waves on Amazon Prime. I have never caught this one before but always heard good things from other horror fans. First, the good: the cast did an admirable job. Peter Cushing and Brooke Adams are pros, although this is early in Brooke's career here. John Carradine doesn't get a whole lot of screen time and is dead within the first 30 minutes (SPOILER ALERT!). The character of Norman (played by Jack Davidson) reminded me of George Costanza, so he was quite effective at being annoying. Fred Buch had a 70s James Caan thing going for him, while Luke Halpin pretty much took over as the film's male lead hero-type. The zombie Nazis were also quite effective, without even uttering a sound. The production values were quite low, but the filmmakers made the best out of locations, costumes and make-up. Give them an A for maximum effort.The bad: it took a while for things to build. The zombie Nazis bobbed in and out of the water for much too long without killing anyone, and when they DID finally start to stalk and kill, the results were quite...dull. Basically, they grab someone and drown them. Some uninspired killing in this horror film. I don't need gore, but I would appreciate some creativity at least.Ultimately, it's the bad that outweighs the good here. The plodding pacing and the uninspired deaths scenes really stick with me more than the tone or atmosphere. It was all a good idea in theory, and definitely a creative re-working of the zombie story, but it was all for naught when you don't really do anything with it from a story standpoint. Nice try, but falls short of expectations.

Directed by Ken Wiederhorn (who directed Meatballs II and Return Of The Living Dead II!) the film relates how a group of people are stranded on an island that gets invaded by dead Nazi super soldiers who have come from a lost ship pulled from the bottom of the sea by.....am not sure what. It sounds good but it isn't exciting. Going for mood rather than tension it should have been more full blooded. The dead Nazis have a habit of emerging out of water in no logical way and doing their worse, which involves little gore if any. The group of people act in the usual stupid way that people do in films like this.The acting is mostly bland apart from genre stalwarts John Carradine as the old salty captain and Peter Cushing as a German officer connected with the super soldiers. Mr Cushing is not his usual elegantly dressed self and has a slightly disfigured face for some unexplained reason but he is the best player in the film.The old hotel location is atmospheric and there are some eerie moments like the first appearance of the soldiers but overall it is ho-hum. Being a gentleman I hesitate to say that Brooke Adams looks very picturesque in a yellow bikini....but she does.

Moody thriller about a yachting party that,after encountering weird weather, and a mysterious derelict ship, finds themselves shipwrecked on an island run by a former Nazi commander(Peter Cushing, fine as always) who realizes that the secret program run during the last days of World War II, that produced super soldiers who ran amok, have now resurfaced, and intend to murder everyone...Despite a low budget, this is a genuinely eerie and atmospheric film, helped immensely by an effective nautical score that creates a memorable aura for this whole dream-like film. Brooke Adams, Luke Halpin, John Carradine, among others round out the cast of unfortunate castaways.Other plus is that the soldiers(basically zombies) are presented in the old-school manner(think Val Lewton).Well worth seeking out, and is on DVD.

A group of passengers charter John Carradine's boat for a little pleasure cruise and find themselves on a mysterious island where an old SS Commander Peter Cushing is keeping an old experiment going from World War II. Back in the day when manpower was getting scarce the Nazis started creating zombies out of dead soldiers. A few even got into combat as legends tell. But it was too late and now Cushing sits out on Caribbean island waiting the day when the Reich shall rise again.The only surprise here is that John Carradine is not the mad scientist, but merely an eccentric old sea salt. The whole thing is fun and quite campy. But in an unintentional way.