See der Zombies

Jean Rollin "brilliert" auf dem gleichen Niveau wie Jesús Franco. Ein langsames Tempo, primitive Dialoge und Schauspielleistungen, viele nackte Körper, eine kitschige romantische Melodie (die man schon in einem anderen, ähnlichen Film gehört hat). Die Spannung und das Grauen funktionieren nicht. Während der ersten halben Stunde ist der Film ziemlich unterhaltsam, vor allem die actionreichen Kriegsszenen, die so wirken, als ob sie Ed Wood gedreht hätte. Die letzte halbe Stunde ist aber eine echte Qual. Sie ist langweilig, das Publikum befindet sich in einer halluzinogenen Betäubung und ist abgestumpft. Im Rahmen des Guilty-Pleasure-Vergnügens muss ich das Nebenmotiv der Beziehung des Zombies mit der Tochter loben, die er nach vielen Jahren trifft (zuletzt hat er sie als Baby in der Wiege gesehen – da war er noch lebendig). (04.08.2005)

Rollin in seiner schmutzigsten Form. Es dauert nicht einmal fünf Minuten und schon treten alle Tiere (Zicklein mit einem Biber), der See und der darin versteckte Wassermann auf die Bühne. Oder ein Zombie. Am Ende ist es aber völlig egal, denn die örtlichen Toten fressen zwar manchmal jemanden, aber mit ihrem schäbigen Erscheinungsbild nach Art des tschechischen Films des Schreckens oder Ekel haben sie nicht viel erreicht. Ihren komödiantischen Talent kann man ihnen jedoch nicht absprechen. Die meiste Zeit verstecken sie sich oder kommen aus ihrem heimischen Teich (einmal sogar innerhalb von 40 Sekunden), kämpfen untereinander und der Hauptboss findet sogar seine verlorene Tochter unter den Lebenden. Diese Szene ist besonders unbezahlbar - genauso wie der größte Teil der Aufnahmezeit. (29.04.2015)

The combination of Nazi zombies, the French countryside and Rollin's melancholic poetics has something to it, but the stupid dialogue, terrible make-up and sound effects make it extreme trash. The film was originally supposed to be directed by Jesus Franco, who left the project due to the low budget. Rollin took over from him at the last minute. He read the script on the way to the set, and if he had known how bad it was, he said he wouldn't have bothered with it at all. Zombie Lake is a harrowing but at times fascinating mess, jumping from unabashedly exploitative scenes (naked volleyball players swimming in zombie-infested water) to tender, sentimental moments (an emotional zombie visiting his daughter) in which Rollin manages to stamp his unmistakable signature. (06.09.2023)

I refuse to believe that someone could mean this seriously. There are several moments that almost made me burst out in laughter, because what I was seeing on screen felt like a self-parody, but an unintentional one, unfortunately. If it was like this intentionally, the screenwriter would deserve an award for genius, I doubt anyone could come up with, for example, the scene of “the reunion after many years”. I also realised that the pond where the water sprites live mysteriously changes its depth, you can see it in the scene where the zombies attack the bathing girls. From the coast, the water barely reaches the girls’ waist, but when the camera captures them from under the water in that same moment, they are swimming and the zombies reach for them from even deeper. Interesting. Zombie Lake is such a bad film that I’m sure someone will like it. I just hope that Romero’s upcoming Something of the Dead (also with water zombies) won’t be similar. (30.09.2008)

European trash in its purest form. In the beginning, you'll be treated to unconcealed nudity, only to have zombie Nazis regularly crawling out of a lake, probing the surroundings with their claws and murdering women by sucking their blood. For a while, Jean Rollin flashbacks back to World War II and tries to do some serious mythology development, only to have lots of nudity and a bunch of zombies dumping screaming women into the lake again. There isn't even a shortage of feelies, what with the zombie dad visiting his daughter every time he comes out of the water, petting her and giving her presents. I felt bad for the little girl. She was the only one who was acting conscientiously, and she didn't fit into that world of adult perverts. Rollin even attempted some more ambitious with her character, and overall I got the impression that he took everything on camera at first glance and was completely resigned to what would come out of it. There are tears at the end, but I couldn't help being moved myself. (28.10.2023)