On Saturday night, we had a zombie intervention for Maikopunk. She doesn’t really care for our favourite horror film genre and had to be set right.

Unfortunately, she knitted throughout Night of the Living Dead. We thought we’d get her started with the classic ghouls before we delved into squelchier representations as in Day of the Dead, etc.

However, Maikopunk’s husband D. lent me Dead Set, the British zombies-on-a-Big-Brothers-set show, and World War Z…which I still have not read.

No word yet if Maikopunk is ready to graduate to pure schlock.

…move slowly enough that you can amputate the chomped-on limb and save yourself.

Norwegian zombie comedy movie Død Snø (or Dead Snow) is about a group of medical students whose weekend of snow sports turns into a face-off with undead WWII soldiers. Obviously on my list of films to see.

By the way, while typing this, like many other bloggers, I wondered if the nazi zombie film could be really a subgenre of the zombie genre. To prove it one way or the other, I made an inventory of nazi zombie films:

• Revenge of the Zombies (1943), also known as The Corpse Vanished: traditional voodoo zombies, which, quite frankly don’t do a thing for me - it’s either undead cannibal ghouls in an apocalyptic setting or nothing - but it kind of fits into the nazi zombie theme.  It’s about a nazi mad scientist who dabbles in forbidden sciences and has a 1940s female zombie in high heels.
• The Frozen Dead (1966): the imdb synopsis covers it best: “A crazed scientist keeps the heads of Nazi war criminals alive until he can find appropriate bodies on which to attach them so he can revive the Third Reich.”
• Dark Echo (1977), also known as Dark Echoes, Deep Echo: has only one drowned nazi zombie and a witch decapitation is as far as the gore goes, apparently.
• Shock Waves (1977), also known as Almost Human, Death Corps: appears to be some sort of Island of Dr. Moreau with zombies.
• L’Abîme des morts vivants (1981), also known as Bloodsucking Nazi Zombies, Oasis of the Zombies, The Oasis of the Living Dead, The Treasure of the Living Dead: nazi zombies protect hidden treasure in the Sahara.
• Le Lac des morts vivants (1981), also known as Zombie Lake, The Lake of the Living Dead: drowned nazi soldiers return to avenge themselves on their French murderers, proving something, perhaps that 1981 was a good year to direct nazi zombie movies in France (see above).  I read that this one is so bad it does the wrap-around thing where it becomes good bad.
• Night of the Zombies (1981), also known as Battalion of the Living Dead, Gamma 693, Night of the Wehrmacht Zombies, Night of the Zombies II, Sister of Death, The Chilling: once more, another one about poor blokes who should have never dismissed the rumour about the zombies in the deserted locale.  Also, another one for hapless zombie fans who shouldn’t dismiss rumours that this one is a stinker.  Night of the Wehrmacht Zombies II, by the way, will be the name of the zombie movie I will one day film.
• The Bunker (2001), also known as The Bunker: The Evil Is Within: will people never learn to not go down into mysterious tunnels, especially when plague victims were murdered there?
• Horrors of War (2006): inspired one imdb commenter to suggest the genesis of this film project: “Hey, I have a jeep, let’s make a WWII zombie movie!”
• Outpost (2008): more proof that rumoured nazi bunkers in Eastern Europe where evil experiments took place to reanimate the dead are better left alone.

Only eleven films in the subgenre, but a decent checklist for those of us who appreciate the undead.  (Let me know if I missed any.)