Once They Were Almost Human! Beneath the living… Beyond the dead… From the depths of Hell’s Ocean! The Deep End of Horror!
Directed by Ken Wiederhorn.
Written by John Kent Harrison, Ken Pare and Ken Wiederhorn.
AKA
Almost Human
Death Corps
Rose (Brooke Adams) is found drifting in a small rowing boat by a fishing boat. The film is her story of what happened.
Rose is one of a number of people on a dive boat who have a strange encounter at sea. Everything is bathed in an eerie orange hue and then during the night a huge ghostly freighter strikes them a glancing blow. Captain Ben Morris (John Carradine) sends up a flare and they see the freighter is decrepit.
The next day Keith (Luke Halpin) and Dobbs the galley hand (Don Stout) get a clear look at the freighter that is just sitting there, nothing more than a wreck. The captain is missing.
The dive boat is taking on water badly so they head for the nearby island in a rowing boat. They find the captain dead in the water.
They explore the island and come across an abandoned hotel. A begoggled zombie-like man leaves the wrecked freighter, walking underwater, and heads out of the water. At the abandoned hotel the group meet an SS Commander (Peter Cushing). When the group tell him about the wreck he heads down to the beach. Many more zombies start to come out of the sea.
The SS Commander warns Keith about the danger and tells him about a boat which they could use to leave the island. The SS Commander then tells the whole group what they’re up against, namely the Death Corps, a group of super soldiers once under his command, creatures neither alive nor dead but somewhere in between. The Death Corps couldn’t be controlled and at the end of the war the SS Commander sent the freighter and the Death Corps to the bottom of the ocean.
“And now she has returned.”
SS Commander
This film is great. It’s a very different take on zombie films obviously but it really works. There’s no gore but there are deaths. It’s an atmospheric little tale with plenty of impressive scenes and solid acting. With legends Peter Cushing and John Carradine, also Brooke Adams, it’s a strong cast. Quite an eerie little soundtrack too with music by Richard Einhorn.
Also stars Fred Buch as Chuck, Jack Davidson as Norman, D.J. Sidney as Beverly and Clarence Thomas as Fisherman.
If you liked Shock Waves you might also like:
Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)
The Fog (1980)
Nightmare City (1980)
Killing Birds (1987)
