Shock Waves (1977)

Director:

Ken Wiederhorn

Writers:

John Kent Harrison (writer)
Ken Pare (writer)

Release Date:

15 July 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Once They Were Almost Human! Beneath the living... Beyond the dead... From the depths of Hell's Ocean! The Deep End of Horror!

Plot:

Visitors to a remote island discover that a reclusive Nazi commandant has been breeding a group of Zombie soldiers.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Zombie | Soldier | SS Commander | Dinghy

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Peter Cushing	...	SS Commander
Brooke Adams	...	Rose
Fred Buch	...	Chuck
Jack Davidson	...	Norman
Luke Halpin	...	Keith
D.J. Sidney	...	Beverly
Don Stout	...	Dobbs
John Carradine	...	Captain
Clarence Thomas	...	Fisherman
Sammy Graham
Preston White
Reid Finger
Mike Kennedy
Donahue Guillory
Jay Maeder	...	Zombie

Also Known As:

Almost Human (UK)
Death Corps

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | France:-12 | Iceland:16 | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Australia:M | Norway:16 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Coral Gables, Florida, USA

Company:

Zopix Company

Trivia:

There are actually eight actors playing eight different zombies in the film, although it appears that there are many more.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the cook's body is retrieved from the lake, a split second before the scene change, you actually see the actor that plays the cook start to lift his head up. This mistake is more apparent in the VHS version, though the DVD has part of it as well.

Movie Connections:

References Carnival of Souls (1962)

Take a trip on (yet another) mysterious island

This underrated little movie is a fairly interesting one. It's one of my own horror favorites, which is saying a lot indeed. With a story vaguely reminiscent of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Shock Waves benefits from fitting cheap creepy music and enjoyable performances by both John Carradine (in a supporting part as the ship's captain) and Peter Cushing (as the chief villain--and what a villain!). The pace is well maintained throughout and there are quite a few good scenes: watch out for the underwater fights! Well, an excellent bit of low-grade horror.