EMM# : 23022
Added: 2015-09-19

Soldiers of the Damned (2015)
An Evil Secret Awaits...
An Evil Secret Awaits!

Rating: 3.7

Movie Details:

Genre:  Action/Adventure (Horror| Thriller| War)

Length: 1 h 38 min - 98 min

Video:   720x400 (25.000 Fps - 1 781 Kbps)

Studio:

Location:


MOVIE      TRAILER      WEBLINK   

Actors:     

 

 

 

 

Director:

Complete Cast:

  • Plot
  • Comments
  • Trivia
  • Goofs
  • Keywords
  • AKAs
It's the Eastern Front, 1944. The Russians are pushing the German Army back through Romania. Major Kurt Fleischer, war-weary commander of an elite troop of German soldiers, is ordered to escort a female scientist into a mysterious forest behind enemy lines to retrieve an ancient relic. As his men begin to disappear in strange circumstances Fleischer realises that the scientist is part of Himmler's occult department and there is something in the forest that is far more deadly than the Russians. Written by

----------------------------------------
Jakub Bednar from Australia
----------------------------------------

I got suckered into watching this movie because I'm a huge fan of history, the DVD cover looked really cool and it had a promising name for a title. I was hoping it would be something like the movie "Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead" which is unquestionably a masterpiece compared to this.

There are so many flaws in Soldiers of the Damned that thinking about the specifics hurts my brain.

By the end of the movie for the first time ever I just froze staring at the entire credits daydreaming wondering how the hell someone could make such garbage. While staring blankly at the credits I noticed there were 3 assistant directors, this is probably where the movie really failed. I can't possibly imagine why there would need to be a total of 4 directors when basically the entire movie was about 5 people in the forest.

There were only 2 decent actors in the entire movie and I REALLY felt sorry for them.

I don't know how a few members of IMDb reviewed this movie with a 9 or above praising everything about it. All I can say is they were probably on drugs when they watched it or had something to do with the movie.

I would rather go to work for an entire week without pay than watch this again.

----------------------------------------
s3276169
----------------------------------------

If someone were to ask me what Soldiers of the Damned is about all I could think to say is "damned if I know".

Lets start off by saying the acting is good, the sets are good, the general premise of this film is good. Where this B grade film falls down very badly is in the storyline department.

I had assumed as the film progressed the threads would be drawn together and we would gain some insight into the inexplicable events that take place. This however, is not the case. The result for the unfortunate viewer is one of those "what the...." moments. As in, what the hell did I just waste my time watching?

This is an incoherent, borderline silly film. Its watchable but the lack anything like a finale/conclusion is a substantial shortcoming. Four out of ten from me.

----------------------------------------
frompagescreen from United Kingdom
----------------------------------------

Right from the opening credits of Soldiers of The Damned, we know what sort of film we are about to view. With opening credits very reminiscent of Army of Darkness,

I cant help but feel that if Sam Raimi made a film featuring Nazi's, then Soldiers of the Damned might well be the result. Taking the often told format of 'men on a mission' Soldiers of The Damned injects the 'genre' with a dash of the type of Germans often seen in the world of Indiana Jones. A fun film, whilst gory in places but its a fun gore and not the emotion draining seriousness of films of recent years. Schindlers List this isn't (not does it try to be), Soldiers of the Damned it is'

----------------------------------------
simon-ball3 from United Kingdom
----------------------------------------

Romania 1944 and the German Wehrmacht is in full retreat from the Red Army. Battle weary commander Major Kurt Fleischer (Gil Darnell) is called into HQ to take a briefing for a top-secret mission. Under the direct orders of Heinrich Himmler he is to escort an archaeologist from the SS Ahnenerbe behind enemy lines to search for an ancient occult artifact that Himmler believes will help the Nazis win the war. The matter is complicated by the fact that the Ahnenerbe scientist Professor Kappel (Miriam Cooke) is both female and an old girlfriend of Fleischer's. Worse than that Fleischer's crack squad is to be accompanied by SS Major Metzger (Lucas Hansen), Fleischer's' men hate the SS and Fleischer has a bit of previous with Hansen.

Crossing behind enemy lines things start to get creepy when the soldiers catch mysterious glimpses of things in the woods, the gory remnants of the previous mission turn up and Fleischer's' men start to combust. What is the secret Kappel and her SS buddies are looking for and is it worth the death of his men? Only Fleischer can decide.

Soldiers of the Damned is a dark gritty occult chiller with just a hint of Raiders of the Lost Ark about it, here the real monsters are not necessarily the supernatural ones. There is plenty of well staged gory action and despite the tiny budget the props and costumes have a really authentic look to them. James Martin's cinematography is perfectly complimented by Tug's dramatic soundtrack. The only let down is the odd bit of clunky dialogue, but it is good to see most of the Germans being portrayed as ordinary blokes with only the real Nazis as truly evil.

----------------------------------------
Sean Cockwell from United Kingdom
----------------------------------------

There would appear to be a revival of sorts for horror flicks of a Nazi soldier bent. With both the Outpost and Dead Snow franchises doing reasonable business, especially in the retail market, it was inevitable that others would look to tap into the same lucrative vein looking to reap similar rewards. Earlier this year we were treated to the retail release of Backtrack: Nazi Vengeance. This British flick, again using Nazi's as its primal force, was a bit of a mess. With that still playing in the back of my mind I approached this feature début for former TV, commercial and music video director Mark Nuttall, with some trepidation.

Fortunately both Nuttall and screenwriter Nigel Horne have fashioned a tale that manages to feel both familiar yet fresh at the same time. Soldiers of the Damned is fresh in the way that it doesn't completely cover the same tracks as the aforementioned movies, although there are some similarities - the Nazi's interest in the occult for example. It also impressively manages to capture the period it is set in. Both the production design and hair and make-up teams are to be applauded for their work on the film within such a limited budget.

Unlike its comtemporary-based counterparts Soldiers of the Damned dares to be period set taking place in 1944 on the Eastern Front when the Russians are pushing the German Army back through Romania. Major Kurt Fleischer (Gil Darnell) is instructed to escort female scientist Professor Anna Kappel (Miriam Cooke) into a forest behind enemy lines so that an ancient relic can be retrieved. The soldiers in Fleischer's ensemble say that the forest is spooked or possessed but he doesn't initially believe them. Soon ghostly visions are seen and soldiers disappear as if burnt to ashes before their very eyes. Fleischer doesn't take long to suss that there is something far more sinister than expected lurking within the forest and has to figure out exactly what that something is before he and his team are completely wiped out.

For the best part of an hour our interest is maintained with something of interest happening throughout. However when it comes to wrapping up proceedings the energy on-screen flags under the weight of a script that has run out of more decent ideas. It also jars that the mainly British cast talk in English accents when they are meant to be German otherwise the performances are decent with Miriam Cooke particularly impressing in the key role of Professor Anna Kappel.

Mark Nuttall proves himself as a name to watch. His work in the director's chair is assured and bodes well for his future career in films. Despite the flaws mentioned Soldiers of the Damned is worth seeking out. For its limited budget the film sounds, looks and plays like a bigger studio production. Soldiers of the Damned is a breathe of fresh air in a genre that is otherwise currently stagnating under the weight of wearisome found footage and cheap zombie flicks. It's surprising, involving and far better than you would perhaps expect.

Check out more of my reviews at www.mybloodyreviews.com

Chronologically misplaced map in the opening sequence showing European countries that were not in existence until the 1990's; namely Czech Republic and Slovakia. Also, Belarus and Serbia would not be marked territories on a map in use in 1944 and Russia was still part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
------------------------

occult|soldier|romania|murder|reference to adolf hitler|reference to heinrich himmler|haunting|airplane|year 1944|ahnenerbe|knife|death|dead|attack|battle|rifle|gun|time travel|time slip|panther tank|aryan|haunted forest|nazi|sniper|soviet|russia|germany|world war two|
AKAs Titles:
Japan (DVD title) (English title) - Undead Soldiers

Release Dates:


Certifications:
UK:18