[7]

Nazi zombies rise from the sea and prey on a group of youngsters stranded at an abandoned island resort. You either love the sound of that, or you don’t. I really dig it. Peter Cushing makes a welcome appearance as the zombies’ former SS commander, and John Carradine plays the crotchety ship captain who unwittingly guides our protagonists to their watery graves.

Shock Waves is a super low-budget flick shot on grainy 16mm film, but this only adds to its midnight-feature charm. The film follows a pretty standard slasher formula, although it’s surprisingly light in blood or gore. Most of the aquatic fascists’ victims are simply dragged underwater and drowned. The back half of the film doesn’t escalate as well as it could, but director Ken Wiederhorn (Eyes of a Stranger, Return of the Living Dead Part II) conjures some compelling atmosphere and dread with his choice of locations and an evocative, minimalist soundtrack by pioneering synth artist Richard Einhorn. And those shots of the zombies rising from the water are pretty nifty, too.

Co-starring Brooke Adams (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Luke Halpin (Flipper).