Review of The 25th Reich (2012) by Dirty W — 30 May 2012

There is a surge of nazis exploitation films invading cinemas everywhere in 2012. Aside from 'The 25th Reich' as being one of them there's also: "Nazis at the center of the Earth" and "Iron Sky". Could the apocalypse really be upon us? Or was it the film 'Inglourious Basterds' that brought back this forgotten genre? Whatever it is, it's really hard to resist checking any one of these films out. Just to see how bad they really are.

This one is bad, but it's the kind of good/bad that doesn't exactly warrant it to be awful. It's filmed nicely and for much of the film it's taken seriously until it reaches it's godawful finale. I was cracking up so much seeing Jim Knobeloch being rammed in the ass by a spider hybrid nazis robot. Ever see 'Wild Wild West' with Will Smith and Kevin Klein? Remember the spider robot that Dr. Loveless used? That's exactly what the nazis look like. Weird? Yes. Funny? Absolutely!

The film is a bit short, but feels long due to the constant chatter among the small group of soldiers. There's many, many great shots in this film that heighten the atmosphere. It almost worked if only they hadn't injected a piece of 'Deliverance' into the film. It ends with the promise of a sequel: The 25th Reich and the War with God. Maybe that one will be better.