ZOMBIE LAKE (1980)
Directors: Jean Rollin, Julian de Laserna
Image Entertainment

In this French-Spanish co-production made by Eurocine, the opening credits unveil a young attractive girl slowing taking her clothes off and then proceeding to skinny dip in a peaceful-looking lake. After a few moments of subdued swimming, she is attacked by a bunch of green-faced zombies garbed in WW2 German soldier uniforms. The bright green make-up on these ghouls resemble what a young trick-or-treater's interpretation of The Incredible Hulk might be.

As more victims succumb to zombie attacks (neck bitings that ooze with a bright Cool Aid-like fluid), we are told by this small French town's Mayor (the incredible Howard Vernon) of its troubled past. During the second World War, the villagers revolted against a squadron of Nazis by shooting them and then tossing the bodies in the lake before the authorities could arrive. Now Vernon has to face the facts that "the zombies have declared war!" and he has to do something about it.

The Zombies attack the villagers in a series of ridiculous vignettes, utilizing any opportunity to show luscious young girls completely in the buff. For no apparent reason, an all-girl volleyball team park their van by the lake. After kicking the ball around for a few minutes, they (thankfully) shed their threads to jump in the water and splash about. The ghouls attack the nude nubiles, and at this point, the underwater photography comically reveals an obvious swimming pool complete with sloppy background canvas and a couple of strands of seaweed (no fish) to try and resemble a natural body of water. Wearing nothing but her tight shorts, the one surviving volleyball girl panics and dashes in to a pub full of ogling men!

Other occurrences include attacks on a woman fixing her skirt, a silly-looking couple about to make love in a barn, and a very young girl taking a bath outside dressed in nothing but black panties! There's also a subplot that involves a girl of 10 or 12, whose dad returns as an imbecile green monster. Gee, in 1980 (which this clearly takes place in), the end of the war would've been about 35 years ago, yet a Nazi's daughter is still a child!

You'll also witness Howard Vernon escort a female journalist to a room in his house, exposing assorted film equipment and lights, as well as the reflection of the cameraman in the mirror! How about terrible acting, terrible dubbing and terrible shaky camera work? How about zombie make-up that rubs off on other actors? Well, this mess was originally to be directed by Jess Franco, but was hence assigned to Jean Rollin and Julian de Laserna although the name "J. A. Lazer" usually appears on the credits. Rollin does get a special credit as an actor (he plays a detective) even though he doesn't have a single close-up. The music is by Franco regular Daniel White, but it's mostly made up of unfitting pieces from Franco's FEMALE VAMPIRE (aka THE LOVES OF IRINA).

For what it's worth, Image has done a fine job releasing ZOMBIE LAKE on DVD, making it part of their "EuroShock Collection." The film is letterboxed in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced. Overall, the colors look quite pleasing. Except for a few blemishes here and there, the source material is in pristine shape. The fine mono audio is playable in either English or French, with the French track being the more loud and robust of the two.

There are also extras on the disc, including some alternative "clothed scenes." These scenes (all shown silent) have the girl at the beginning swimming in her underwear, and the volleyball girls are in the lake with t-shirts and panties. Also, the victim who runs into the pub now wears a revealing top instead of being bare-chested. There is also the original Eurocine trailer, which basically strings together a number of uneventful scenes (from the clothed version) without any credits or narration, and the alternate credits from the English language version. (George R. Reis)

BACK TO REVIEWS

HOME