Horror Movie Review: Dead Squad: Temple of the Undead (2018)

Unchain your brain and leave it at the door because it’s not needed in the slightest with this horror/action flick. I mean just look at the title for goodness sake! It doesn’t exactly scream serious Oscar potential, now does it?

So the movie opens in very familiar territory as we meet Nazis, the CIA and are introduced to an abundance of conspiracies involving experiments to create mutants.

Fast-forward in time and we’re now introduced to our cast, a soulless walking set of cliches. That’s not hyperbole. This cast is every horror character trope possible. From the bitchy blonde who carries around a stuffed dog and wears heels in the jungle. To the nerdy guy who can work surveillance, the jock meathead to the kick ass black girl, it’s all here and unfortunately present.

Characters don’t matter and the acting is barely passable, you know what you’re getting into here. It’s simple, ineffective horror with a focus on gory action as the zombies come thick and fast.

So how did our lifeless lot get mixed up in Nazi-zombie experiments/CIA conspiracies? Well they go rafting in the jungles of Bali and as is always the case, take a detour off the main path. They come across a beautiful waterfall and decide to have a swim but while they’re all occupied, the boats drift away leaving them stranded.

Forced to trek through the jungle, they come across an ancient temple that currently doubles up as a zombie hangout/Nazi-scientist hideout. The rest of the film is straightforward enough with the group deciding to explore the inside of the temple only to get attacked by a horde of zombies.

What is interestingly different here is how some of the zombies seem to retain some level of brainpower. There is a hierarchy in their lair which is at least something a little different for the zombie genre.

It’s not what you’ll remember about Dead Squad: Temple of the Dead though. If anything goes in and stays in, it is going to be the gore. What money was saved on script writing and decent actors was spent on effects which are impressive enough for a film that is found lacking in almost every other department.

By time we get to the twist (used very loosely) most will have checked out though and while it would be nice to say that it matters, the truth is it doesn’t. You’re just likely to feel relief for having gotten to the end credits.