German director Uwe Boll has a reputation for making some of the worst films ever released in the last couple of decades. Some would argue in the history of cinema. The man has tackled every issue possible, from 9/11 to Nazism to political dramas, school shooting, and comedies. What he has gained the most notoriety for are his horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films. He’s back at it again with the just announced movie adaptation of the video game “Zombie Massacre,” which is also known as “Gloom 4.”
“Zombie Massacre” is a Wii game produced by Benjamin Krotin, It was originally designed for the Amiga system. It was a knock-off of the extremely popular first-person shooter video game “Doom.” Coincidentally (?), “Doom” was adapted into a movie in 2005 that starred Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Karl Urban.
The game “Zombie Massacre” revolved around a single player who enters an underground temple after realizing he is being hunted down by the walking dead. Upon entering the temple, he is confronted by many zombies as he makes his way through the catacombs. Obviously, the filmmakers will have to come up with some sort of motivation and plot for the characters in the story. Why are they at a temple filled with zombies? Where are they? Those sorts of questions that moviegoers like to know when they invest their hard-earned cash in seeing a film.
I have a feeling people shouldn’t hold their breath for a big-budget high-grade adaptation of “Zombie Massacre.” Quality workmanship isn’t a characteristic Boll is known for. Just like “Zombie Massacre” was a second-rate version of “Doom,” I imagine that will be mirrored in movie form as well. I can’t believe many gamers are very excited about any of this news. If anyone really is interested, it’s purely because they want to see what kind of train wreck it turns out to be.
The movie adaptation of “Zombie Massacre” isn’t Boll’s first attempt at bringing video games to the movie screen. He has produced and directed many film adaptations of the sort. It all started in 2003 with his “House of the Dead” movie, which was a prequel to the games of the same name. He then moved on to “Alone in the Dark,” “BloodRayne,” “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale,” “Far Cry,” and others.
Boll somehow gets relatively big actors to be in his films. He has worked with actors like Ben Kingsley, Christian Slater, Jason Statham, Stephen Dorff, Tara Reid, LeeLee Sobieski, Ron Perlman, and more. Why these actors would be in his films can amount to nothing more than a paycheck.
Uwe Boll is producing “Zombie Massacre”. Marco Ristori and Luca Boni, who worked with Boll before on “Eaters”, are directing the movie. There’s been no word yet on casting or a release date.
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