Nigel P Told in flashback, a group of Nazi soldiers are killed and dumped into a lake which somehow reanimates them years later and brings them back to 'zombie' life. They then go on a very slow killing spree, either because they are now mindless murderers, or they are avenging themselves against the small French village that 'killed' them. Nothing here is elaborated upon, it just 'is.' Apparently French director Jean Rollin became involved in 'Zombie Lake' after original director Jess Franco walked out of the production. That Rollin was only given a few days notice might explain the unusually slapdash approach to the project. Here we have corpses that blink, tatty horror make-up and a very obvious use of a swimming pool for the underwater shots (with little attempt to disguise the pool's extremities). Franco favourite Howard Vernon plays the Mayor of the village who, in his desperation, turns to insistent journalist Katya Moore (Marcia Sharif) for help in ridding the community of the zombies. Her answer? Napalm! (At least, that is what the dubbed soundtrack tells us.) There is a plot line concerning one of the Nazis and his past relationship with a village girl. This resulted in Helena, a (now) 10 year-old child who recognizes one of the zombies as her father (he realises this too – his wearing of his ex-partner's necklace gives this away). He in turn protects her from the others. She is then coerced to lure the undead group into a barn with buckets of fresh blood to entice them, where they are set on fire and finally destroyed.I found myself wondering why further bloodshed could not be spared merely by regularly feeding the zombies with blood (they appear quite docile when fed) – and then realised I was enjoying this sloppy, soft-core 'quickie' so much I had invested my own 'logic' into the storyline. It is refreshing to see zombie creatures staggering around on a killing spree in blazing sunlight, but while as an overall production, Zombie Lake' possesses little of the poetry and atmosphere that defines more typical Rollin productions, the resulting film is nevertheless a huge amount of fun.

Anthony Pittore III (Shattered_Wake) After the French Resistance during the second World War, French soldiers took care of the Nazi threat. Instead of disposing of them properly, they dumped the Nazi soldiers into the lake near a small town in rural France. Now, the Nazis are rising from their watery grave to slowly attack the visiting basketball team. . . which is made up of a bunch of naked young French girls.Jean Rollin has brought us several good pieces of French cinema, like 'Fascination,' 'Living Dead Girl,' etc. 'Zombie Lake,' however, is not one of his better pieces. There really is only one reason to see this picture. . . if you have a strong attraction to hot young French women. And, let's face it. . . who doesn't? Everything about this film is sensual, like a lot of Rollin's work. Even the zombie attacks have a sensual feel to them. Beyond that one positive, there really isn't much else. The film is really quite dull, the acting is subpar, and the writing left a lot to be desired. Rollin's direction was apt, but there was more visible equipment than in 'Plan 9 from Outer Space.' When it comes down to it. . . there are plenty of other better films out there. If you're desperate for a good Underwater Nazi Zombie flick, check out 'Shock Waves' (1977).Final verdict: 3/10.-AP3-

Joe Ebbasi A thoroughly enjoyable film. The problem is that the gulf between director's intention and viewer enjoyment is massive. The notion that someone is presenting this film as an earnest and professional endeavour borders on the hysterical. A glance at the 'Goofs' section on this website only tells half the story. I've never witnessed so many actors clearly acknowledge the camera and grin sheepishly as in this. Most of the on screen appearances of crew and equipment mercifully passed me by but the use of a swimming pool for underwater lake footage was obvious enough, though forgivable. The dubbing is also a real treat, in particular the attempts to synchronise words with the actor's lip movements by stretching syllables in such a peculiar way that the characters often sound overly-contemplative and high on drugs. There is often lip movement that is not dubbed over, which only adds to the riotously amateurish feel. Female nudity seems to have been used as an attempted distraction from the painfully slow moving and incoherent narrative. The film opens with an attractive, bronzed mademoiselle skinny-dipping in the titular lake. There are utterly gratuitous underwater shots of between her legs which set the tone for the rest of the film, although we are not treated to quite such 'gynaecological' shots thereafter. Benny Hill and other such shameless slap-and-tickle content comes to mind, especially with the van-load of young girls (supposedly a female basketball team, although its doubtful basketball was popular enough amongst French women in the '50s to warrant a tour) who gaily strip to the bone and plunge into the lake's stagnant waters. There is something about the entire cast of characters and their behaviour that really jars. From the absurd way a group of men openly carry a dead woman through the village to leave her at the mayor's door to the bizarre behaviour of the two policemen who turn up to investigate the recent deaths in the area, one is left feeling that this is a wildly surreal collection of people in an equally surreal situation. The way the zombies repeatedly get in and out of the lake throughout is entirely inexplicable and seems only to have been scripted so that the flimsy narrative progression can be slotted artificially in between zombie-on-human encounters. Zombie behaviour is ludicrously erratic: they jerk down the road like alcoholics, lunging at people for the sake of the kill, then not bothering to eat their victims. The scene in which the zombies burst into the pub sees them more full of irritation and anger than any mindless lust for human blood – see the moment when a would be escapee's attempt to dash past the first zombie provokes a disciplinarian slap to the fellow's back. The very nature of the community that the zombies victimise is highly questionable. The population seem to look to the mayor as if he were some kind of endlessly wise deity, following every order he gives unquestioningly. Every newcomer to the village is directed straight to the mayor's odd castle-like home, as if he's the only one equipped to deal with the outside world. His exchanges with the stupid reporter are intended to be the intellectual element of the film, superstition versus science and all that baloney. When we hear him alluding to a type of fire that man cannot create we assume he means the fires of hell or something but when the reporter suggest napalm he reacts like it's the most logical and certain solution to the zombie problem he has ever heard! So they proceed to dust off the old flamethrower that every small French village has lying around somewhere and lure the zombies into a barn where they can incinerate them. We then see some shoddy replicas of the zombies being flamed, while the time of the day alternates wildly outside. The inclusion of a sub-plot revolving around the illegitimate offspring of a villager and one of the Nazi soldiers who subsequently became a zombie is a freakishly misguided attempt at an emotionally involving thread to the main 'story'. When/if you finish watching this film, pause for a moment and try to recall any of the characters' names. Chances are you won't be able to. This is mainly to do with the fact very few characters are endowed with a name, something symptomatic of the film's downright amateurism. I will probably watch this film at least five more times in my lifetime because it is a thoroughly entertaining, incoherent mishmash. This does not however excuse the people who made it, as there can be no doubt they were attempting to pass this off as legitimate cinema entertainment. It is similar to the way you might enjoy someone falling down a flight of stairs as they descend them in order to show you their awful new clothes.

rebschucks "No fair, you're not wearing any panties!" The previous lines from the scene with the naked girls volleyball team make this worth at least a night's viewing with your drunk friends. Zombie Lake is classic! Whenever I find out a video store carries this film, I immediately rent it.Elaborate plot line boils down to this: Dead WWII soldiers dumped in a lake. One of them did the local farmers daughter the night before. Now the soldiers return as zombies, although the one has a soft spot for his daughter and helps her to save the locals from their flesh-eating ways.The Zombies seem as if they aren't so much out for blood as they are looking to get some lovin. Half the death scenes look like they're just making out with their victims. Euro-trash de jour! Bon appetit!