Legion of the Dead (2001)

Rating: C+

Dir: Olaf Ittenbach
Star: Michael Carr, Russell Friedenburg, Kimberly Liebe, Matthias Hues

Ittenbach cut his teeth on low-budget splatter movies like Burning Moon (and also claims to have been behind the alien autopsy film – believe that as you will!). Much like Alex Chandon, he has now moved onto something with a larger budget, and the result is technically polished enough, with some good characters, but fizzles out and ends up owing way too much to From Dusk Till Dawn. The story takes a long time to get its threads together, with a comically inept pair of resurrected killers, another pair (Carr and Friedenburg) who drift aimlessly, and a barmaid (Liebe) who seems to be channeling Salma Hayek quite shamelessly. There’s also a tall, blond man (Hues, veteran of a thousand low-budget martial arts films) lurking in the background.

These all eventually collide in the bar, which comes under siege from the blond and his minions. The result is amusing, taken in the right spirit (and the absence of any serious thought, needless to say), while the effects are good, with some impressive and cool moments – the bullet through the head is perhaps the most memorable. Less certain about the script and acting, which combine to give the curious impression of being dubbed, even though it’s all shot in English. Still, more entertaining than that alien autopsy, if not perhaps any more convincing.