Netflix’s Valley of the Dead has got everything you could want in a war movie. That is if what you want is a war movie that’s set during the Spanish Civil War, between Nazi supporting Francoists, Republican forces, and… zombies.
Sometimes (Jumping Into the Fire) Is the Only Way to Put It Out
Set in 1938, Valley of the Dead follows Jan, a captain with the Franco forces, who is sent on a mission to deliver a message to other members of his force. Sent on his way with a driver, Jan spots a plane being shot down and, while trying to save the pilot, gets caught by members of his Republican foes. They are then immediately set upon by zombies and have to work together to stay alive, all while trying to not kill each other.
I found a lot of joy in this film. There is no second act emotional slump. No moments of sadness when (spoiler) members of the team get too close to zombies. There isn’t a big exposition about the evils of war, or philosophical discussions about right and wrong. Which, now that i think about it, is a little strange seeing as how our protagonist is on the side of Nazis. But no matter.
Valley of the Dead moves at a comfortable pace, never surrendering the story to big moments, and never overstaying moments of despair. The movie is also fun. And not in a silly pratfall sort of way. It definitely is no Army of the Dead either. It isn’t gritty. It isn’t dark. It is a pretty straightforward zombie horde movie that just happens to have found itself in the Spanish Civil War.
Without Setting a Precedent
Army of the Dead is a pretty apt comparison for this movie. Only Valley of the Dead does everything better. What Army of the Dead did was to have the barest bones of a story. “A group of mercenaries are hired by a wealthy dude, to break into a casino in the middle of a walled off Las Vegas, to steal a thing.” Sound boring? Let’s throw in CGI tigers because there are tiger shows in Vegas. Let’s make the zombies be Cirque du Soleil style performers but not have it matter. Oh also there’s a zombie king who has a zombie queen and they are expecting a zombie baby. Also maybe a time loop thing! And the piéce de résistance of stupid things, some of the zombies are robots! Why? Who the fuck knows! But it’ll be cool!
Valley of the Dead, however, had conflict baked in to the story. Jan and his team are on opposing sides of the war. They are the same (Spanish), but have idealogical differences. And they have to fight together to survive an enemy they don’t quite understand. That’s it. Valley of the Dead doesn’t need to overcomplicate its story with overwrought villains. It doesn’t need a fight scene in slow motion. All it needed was a good story with some good characters.
If You Start a Race, You Finish It. Until the End.
Valley of the Dead is a strong contender for the best zombie thing you’ll see this year. In its simplicity, the movie allows for a story to be told well, with characters that are memorable, and that don’t require a video game style introduction to be recognized. Valley of the Dead is also probably the only place you will get to see a nun reciting communion as she shoots a lupara at an onrushing horde of zombies. She dies by the way, but it sure was a cool way to go.
PostScript: Valley of the Dead, known by its original Spanish title, Malnazidos, also has a video game, which you can buy on Steam here.
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