this film is a very good nazi-zombie sub-genre film. it has suspense and violence with an aquatic twist in it. the film is unique because of it's aquatic twist. it has one scene where a character falls on sea urchins that seem to have come out of nowhere and the zombies always being shown emerging from the water. the film relies slightly on stock footage used and repeated but makes up for this with its interesting underwater sequences and bizarre plot. it revolves around a tour group getting stuck on an island where an old ss general warns them. through the film, their is a subplot of the main character ( Peter Cushing) having fear and hatred for what he has done int he past when he was a general and in the film tries to confront his grotesque experiments.

Ridiculously, SW starts with a spoiler. Brooke is the only survivor. That already makes the movie less interesting to watch – as if SW had excitement to spare. It doesn't.The movie's saving grace is that it was made in the 70s, hence has that non-reproducible mood, feel, and look. Look? Yes, 70s and 80s horror films had actual COLOUR, unlike this new spate of modern films with their computer-generated plastic looks. Otherwise, SW moves too slowly. The isolated island setting is quite nice though.The overly blond Nazis look ridiculous. Anybody who's actually been to Germany knows that at least half of the population are dark-haired, so for the movie-makers to actually paint the actors' hair mega-blond WHITE was a tad ridiculous. They're Nazis, we get it! They wear swastikas, they're evil, and they don't show emotions. Very few of Hitler's top Nazi chums were blond.The acting ranges from I'll-give-it-a-shot to nah-I-don't-feel-like-acting-today. Some of the cast look as if they might doze off at any moment. The only thing that possibly prevents them from yawning are the action scenes in which they are forced to run a lot. Peter Cushing's accent meanders; is he a German Nazi or a British traitor? He must have been so bored he couldn't even bother to stay in character.Brooke Adams is nice to look at. But I don't quite understand what that final "plot-twist" (?) was all about. Her hand-writing looks bizarre; yeah, so what? She's suffered major shock. I.e. SHOCK WAVES. Is the best way to convey this by making her write huge, illegible letters?

A small boat carrying 4 passengers encounters a strange phenomenon while at sea which causes consternation among them. But rather than turn back to appease his passengers—and have to give them a refund—the captain (John Carradine) continues on. That night the small boat is struck by a mysterious "ghost ship" which causes damage to the boat's hull. Although they manage to row a lifeboat to a nearby island, they soon discover that they are not alone on the island. Not only does it harbor a Nazi SS Commander (Peter Cushing) but there are other Nazis on the island as well. Nazi zombies. Anyway, while this movie certainly had potential, it suffered from the fact that the very beginning of the movie featured only one survivor, "Rose" (Brooke Adams) which essentially ruined any surprise value that might have been had. As a result, it was pretty much a paint-by-numbers production from there on out. Hence my rating of average.

This is an underrated cult classic from the 70s, a great decade for atmospheric horror films. The eerie score, excellent location and spooky zombie makeup are all great. A few reviewers have complained about the makeup for the zombies but I thought it was good for the purposes and budget of this film. I assume these naysayers also belong to the "show us more guts" crowd. Some other complaints are about the daylight shooting. Apparently, according to some, this detracts from the movie's effectiveness to scare people. Hogwash. It takes more talent to create atmosphere and terror in broad daylight than at night. The director accomplishes this quite well and deserves to be applauded for it.The cast is solid. Brooke Adams is a young and sexy lead. Solid support from horror vets Peter Cushing and John Carradine (whose arthritic hands are painful look at and I can only imagine the poor man's suffering). The male lead is the mustachioed Luke Halpin (from Flipper) and he's very rootable.On a side note I have to roll my eyes at some of the reviewers bemoaning the lack of gore and guts. This is not a zombie movie in the Romero mold. These are reanimated dead Nazis who kill. They don't eat brains or rip out guts. Why some need to see such visceral imagery to enjoy a horror film is perplexing to me but it takes all kinds I guess.