646f9e108c 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. An evil secret awaits. Sat down last night with a few beers to watch 'Soldiers of the Damned' and I have to say that I was mightily impressed. Although the actors are not well known, they give a hell of a performance way above their pay grades.<br/><br/>This film is not about Nazi Zombies, it is an intelligent film that requires your attention to follow the clever and ever twisting plot line. If you want 'Nazi zombies,' then go look elsewhere, this is completely different, a horror thriller that happens to be set in WW2 in one of the most haunted places on earth.<br/><br/>I'm not going to give any plot line away, but there are some great scenes in here and plenty of action for a low budget movie and it did keep me riveted until the very end. Cleverly written, well directed and great camera-work have all pulled together to deliver an enjoyable movie that leaves you mulling it over long after the credits have rolled. 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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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.
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