Category: Movies

The Valley Of The Dead is a Spanish Language film titled “Malnazidos”. Its original theatrical release was delayed because of the pandemic. Thankfully Netflix swooped in, bought the rights, and dubbed it to English for those of us without Spanish Language skills to enjoy.

The material is probably not as familiar to Americans, as it takes place during the Spanish Civil War. The movie synopsis doesn’t actually cover this, so if you are like me, you probably assumed the time frame was one of the World Wars until it was a bit further in.

Months after bloody combats leave behind thousands of dead in the trenches. Jan Lozano, Captain of the Fifth Brigade has fallen prisoner by an opponent’s platoon along with a young driver while carrying out a mission that has been entrusted to him. The possibility of dying executed will soon be overtaken when a new unknown enemy arises. Both rival sides must unite and set their mutual hate aside in order to survive.

-Telecinco Cinema

Spoilers Below

The Valley Of The Dead kicks off as a standard war movie. Our unwilling “hero” Jan, played by Miki Esparbé, is given a mission which has little chance of success. Jan is sent to recover a downed pilot. Unfortunately for Jan, he and his driver are captured shortly after thier mission begins. This finally introduces us to our first Zombie. Why do I say finally? Because that first zombie doesn’t actually appear until twenty minutes in.

It isn’t long before Jan and his captors join forces to fight a common enemy. One of my favorite scenes is when they took down a lone Zombie only to realize they pulled every Undead within earshot down on their heads. This may seem obvious but so many movies have people blowing away undead without accounting for the fact it would pull every biter around them down on their heads.

I would describe The Valley Of The Dead as a fun, but formulaic movie. Don’t expect new ground to be covered here. Don’t get me wrong. The Valley Of The Dead is enjoyable to watch. The visuals and special effects are first rate. The cast was well chosen and each of them plays their part well. It all comes together nicely.

The Valley Of The Dead Scoring

So why is The Valley Of The Dead scoring a respectable 70/100? It makes The Valley Of The Dead Worth Your Time, but just barely. There were a good number of Zombies, but I would have loved to see a horde versus a machine gun. There was plenty of action, I just wanted something a little more. The other main reason is that the story. There just wasn’t anything new there. It was enjoyable, but it needed something to make it pop just a little more to get that score up a little more.

Let me know what you think in the comments.