The Film Interpreter: Siege of the Dead (2010)

God damn it HMV! I thought I was done with the ‘...of the Dead’ films, but noooo! I go into HMV with my mate, have a look through the horror film section as that’s the best place to find...unique films. And lo and behold, ‘Siege of the Dead’.

Known as ‘Rammbock: Berlin Undead’ in its home country of Germany, this is barely even classed as a film since it is 59 minutes long and, after watching the last film, I wasn’t expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised.

Granted, it isn’t a masterpiece, but it was actually much better than expected. We follow Michael, played by Michael Fuith, going to Berlin to try and get back with his ex-girlfriend Gabi, played by Anna Graczyk, using the guise of returning the apartment keys. However the dead have other plans and Michael and plumbing apprentice Harper, played by Theo Trebs are trapped in the apartment complex with other people, whilst the zombies roam the courtyard.

And for a film that has a runtime of less than an hour, it does it very well. We get the feeling of isolation, of entrapment. Whilst there are other survivors for Michael and Harper to interact with, they actually can’t, because in order to communicate they need to shout which would attract the zombie horde. It’s actually a really clever concept, one that was executed perfectly. It adds to the tense feeling of the film, which only intensifies when both the radio and television signals cut out, so the flow of information is gone. And any hope of rescue is dashed when Michael gets to the roof and sees Berlin burning; civilisation has collapsed.

And you know how most zombie films nowadays have to have an origin? In ‘Flight of the Living Dead’ it was a science experiment, in ‘Apocalypse of the Dead’ it was some kind of chemical, in ‘Armageddon of the Dead’ it’s theorised it was because of a train accident. In this film, who cares? It’s a good thing, don’t get me wrong, it goes back to the old Romero films where it makes the origin of a zombie virus unknown and NOT make it stupid.

The acting was really good, everyone was believable and realistic. The film actually has some of the best acting I have seen in a low budget film. And for quite a few big budget productions as well. I’m looking at you ‘Diary of the Dead’!

As said, for a low budget the film still comes off remarkably. I was slightly worried at first because the camera work looked shoddy, but in the end it was dark and gritty which really added to the feel of the film. And, unlike ‘Apocalypse of the Dead’, it wasn’t horribly dubbed. See ‘Armageddon of the Dead’! Subtitles are alright!

For the zombies, the film has decided to go for the fast moving zombies. Now there’s some which prefer the slow moving zombies, some which prefer the fast moving, then there’s those which don’t care (which I’m part of). And the fast moving zombies perform well in this surrounding. The low budget means that there’s a lack of effects and there’s hardly any other scene settings apart from the corridors and rooms. But the film makers use this to their advantage; the close quarters make it more intense and they demonstrate the best use of ‘less is more’ with the gore. Okay, the make-up I felt was a bit dodgy, but since the zombies aren’t on screen most of the time it’s forgivable.

Whilst they don’t give an origin for the zombie outbreak, they do go into detail about the infection. They say that the infection spreads through bites and via blood and cuts, but it accelerates when the blood starts pumping adrenaline. So a way that characters use to combat this, is to use sedatives. Which is pretty inventive, but it doesn't stop the infection, so some people who have been bitten are still ticking time bombs.

Characterwise, it’s really good again. As mentioned they are realistic, but it’s not just that. The character’s are actually given quite a bit of depth in such a short amount of time, we see the concern that Michael gets from not knowing where Gabi is, the intuition of Harper, the desperation of a man trying to help his wife, it was all welded together perfectly. All these characters come to the realisation that they have to come to terms with how to survive, something which is very realistic.

But it kind of worked too well. There was one character, Manni played by Carsten Behrendt, who looked very intriguing and mysterious. I wanted to know a lot more about him, but he then later hangs himself. That was a bit of a downer.

The characters are also, bizarrely, not stupid! Hallelujah it’s a miracle! When Harper finds a weakness in the zombies, which is that the flash of a camera scares them, they use it to their advantage! Harper chases all the zombies from the courtyard and is able to close the gate, enabling it so that they can’t get back in. Then the remaining survivors form a strategy to make their way to the docks where evacuations are suppose to be taking place.

Then again there was one idiot who tried to make a break for it, I don’t really know why, which results in his death (I assume) and Michael getting bitten. Yeah! The main character gets bitten! We actually like this guy, yet he keeps being knocked back. He finds Gabi in the attic and finds she dumped him for someone she was having an affair with, THEN he gets bitten? Jesus this film hates him. Even Harper agrees with me. But then, like some of the characters from ‘Armageddon of the Dead’, Michael stays behind so that he doesn’t endanger the others. This film has done everything right!

The ending was also remarkable. After Michael is bitten he finds Gabi has been infected, somehow, and he drops the last remaining sedative. I felt he wanted to live, but the second he saw the person he loves has become one of the dead, he gave in. He wanted to be with her, no matter what the circumstance, and we see, that he joins her and accepts their fate.

So despite the film being on a low budget, despite being less than an hour, it’s was really good. No, it isn’t a work of genius, it wasn’t a tour de force, but it’s one of the best zombie films to come out in recent years.

And thankfully there aren’t any more ‘...of the Dead’ films to do.