Saraband For Dead Lovers

'Neither The Sea Nor The Sand' is a very odd thing, a sort of Mills and Boon Gothic zombie fantasy. Written by newreader Gordon Honeycombe, and from the Tigon studio, it has its moments but is terribly uneven, although the scenery (it was filmed in Jersey) is quite incredible.

Annabel and Hugh are desperately in love. When he dies suddenly, she refuses to believe that he would ever leave her. He obviously can't take it either, so he comes back. Really. No pulse, mute, obviously decaying, he shuffles around, staring at Annabel as if she's the only thing that can keep him from the beyond. After a while, and once the reanimated Hugh has murdered his God botherer brother, it becomes clear that this situation can't go on indefinitely - Hugh will have to die again, and Annabel will have to decide whether to join him.

A sombre, sad little film, it has basic elements of a very creepy fairy tale, although this is undercut somewhat by some risible dialogue and some awful music. I only wish it was more experimental and dreamlike - it might have been something special rather than simply a difficult to classify curio.

Neither The Sea Nor The Sand

Almost Human

Make no mistake, ‘Shock Waves’ is pure trash but, as aquatic Nazi killer zombie films go, it’s right up there.

Yes, it suffers from the jumpy narrative and variable performances that these sort of films specialise in, but it actually has quite a lot going for it: Peter Cushing, looking worrying thin, but giving his usual credible performance, this time with a clipped German accent and a great big scar down his mush; an effective, abstract score played on cheap synths; location shooting on an eerie looking island and in a run down, deserted hotel, and, best of all, the decomposing genetically engineered Nazi half-living, half-dead killing machines in goggles who live underwater, lying in wait for victims, of which there are many. It's possibly the most fun the Third Reich has ever given the world.

Shock Waves

The Lord Of the Living Dead

'Plague Of The Zombies' is, quite simply, fantastic. Hammer's only zombie picture is fast moving, pretty surreal and rather kinky, and I love it. 

When Professor James Forbes receives a worrying letter about a mysterious epidemic from his favourite pupil, he and his daughter hot foot it down to his proteges practice in Cornwall just in time to see a funeral interrupted by a load of yahoos, the deceased unceremoniously dumped out of his coffin. A few nights later, the dead man is seen roaming around looking menacing and, when further investigations are made, his grave and many others are found to be empty...

But what does this have to do with the spate of mysterious deaths, or the arrogant Magistrate / Lord of the Manor and his obnoxious cabal of thuggish mates? And what about the incessant voodoo drums coming from the disused tin mine? As Toyah might say 'it's a mythtery'.

Part Gothic, part Scooby Doo, 'Plague of The Zombies' has a huge amount to recommend it, including probably the best nightmare sequence in Hammer history. Perfect as a double bill with 'The Reptile', not least because they were made back to back on the same sets, and it's fun to spot the similarities. Highly recommended.

  

Plague Of The Zombies