Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The "Surf Nazis" are a gang, except that they rule the waves, not the streets, and they regularly battle with other "surfing gangs". The SN leader, appropriately named Adolf (Barry Brenner), makes his fatal mistake when he guns down a black man named Leroy (Robert Harden). That's because Leroy's tenacious-as-Hell Mama (Gail Neely) vows to avenge his death, and kill as many of the SNs as possible.There's not much of a story here, but director Peter George handles this cult / exploitation picture with more *restraint* than many viewers will expect - or be able to tolerate. Yes, you do expect that a movie with such a title will be more outrageous. In that sense, it *is* a letdown, but it's not without its pleasures. It does have a sense of humour, and some pretty amusing characters, some of whom are named after notorious real life Nazis. (Michael Sonye plays a creep named Mengele, Dawn Wildsmith a vicious female gang member named Eva, etc.) Joel Hile, looking like a reject from "A Clockwork Orange", plays a one handed guy named Hook who's always searching for the next cool gadget to attach to his arm.The cast features a number of B movie perennials such as Sonye, Wildsmith, Bobbie Bresee, and Ted Prior. Lead actor Brenner was a real-life doctor whose three other credits are all in William Lustig films. Neely is such a hoot, and it's not hard to root for her during the finale, especially since she makes a funny sight riding a Harley.Perhaps the coolest element is the atmospheric electronic score composed by Jon McCallum.To give you an indication that "Surf Nazis Must Die" is intended as tongue in cheek, I'll tell you that one actor is billed as "guy who has surfboard stolen and looks into the camera".Six out of 10.

If you don't like this film, it is because you don't really understand. Go pay your seven or fifteen bucks and plop down at the local cinemark, because if you don't stuff like this, it just isn't for you.But if you can take a joke, then the thing is interesting. I haven't seen a bunch of Troma's catalogue, but I think it is one of the more memorable flicks there; it certainly isn't Tromeo and Juliet or Terror Firmer, but I don't understand the claim that it isn't a typical Troma film. At least it wasn't something like "Outlaw Prophet" (which put Troma on a blacklist with my wife). It was a genuine trash film, and taken as such seems as good as any other work of trash.What makes this movie good is the fact that the kids have all given themselves new names, a fact that comes up when Smeg is talking to his mom (who claims he shouldn't call her mom). That is just choice.Or the fact that the Nazis are all queens in hiding. I like the not so subtle homo-eroticism.Of course, not only could both of these elements been mobilized more effectively, but there are other things it could have hit on. The apocalyptic oil pumping could have been used better, along with placing Leroy as part of the energy company pumping the beach dry. I was hoping that the fact that there is a big disjunction between the bourgeoisie expectations of Leroy and the ludicrous turf wars of the surf gangs could have been put to better use.So to all you people who didn't like this because of the film making-- you are just wrong. This is what good ol' not so Hollywood film looks like. Like all real films, it's flaws are that it doesn't exploit everything that it could.

Surf Nazis Must Die is one of the best films to be distributed by Troma and sadly, one of the least appreciated. The IMDb voters who briefly put the film in the bottom 100 should be strapped down and forced to watch Driving Miss Daisy until they come to their senses. I even disagree with the reviewers who lump the film in the "so bad it's good" category. I think Surf Nazis Must Die is simply good.In comparison to many of its low budget contemporaries, the writing in SNMD is positively Shakespearian. The film has some semblance of a plot, the jokes are actually funny and the action is well paced. Most surprisingly, the film has a bizarre feel-good quality, which could almost be described as wholesome (if you look past the violence, sex and foul language). This is largely due to film's sympathetic heroine, the awesome Eleanor Washington, who vows to single-handedly take out the members of an evil beach gang (the titular "surf Nazis") after they kill her beloved son.In addition to Eleanor, the film's minor characters also have a lot to offer. Smeg's relationship with his mother is hilarious and the surf Nazis are wonderfully tasteless, with members being named after Nazi "luminaries". The director makes several very obvious references to A Clockwork Orange, but despite their eye make-up and swastikas, these gang members are about as chilling as the Goonies.The inevitable bloodshed is rather low key and the gore effects are simplistic at best. However, the innovative use of hooks and speedboats more than makes up for any lack of carnage. Unlike many zero budget action films, SNMD does not rely on blood splatter or gratuitous sex to pass the time - which under normal circumstances I would consider to be a huge failing. However, SNMD is generally in such poor taste and overflows with sardonic humour to the point where the film becomes utterly irresistible.Surf Nazis Must Die is a brilliantly conceived beach holocaust drama/revenge thriller that you can enjoy with the entire family. Forget about the low IMDb rating and brace yourself for this evocative masterpiece.

Although the title, combined with the Troma label, will make most people go into this film with low expectations, I feel the need to say that "Surf Nazi's Must Die" is definitely worth seeing. A lot of the acting is sub-par, sure, and the writing isn't exactly fantastic, but it manages to be very entertaining throughout; the soundtrack, in particular, is fantastic. Certain scenes nicely incorporate off-key humor, yet the filmmakers didn't intend to make a comedy; in fact, they take themselves rather seriously, a decision which I'm sure is one of the reasons this film is so maligned. It seems like those involved in the making of this film were enjoying what they were doing, for the most part, and I think they made a well-paced, consistently interesting B-movie. Well worth seeing.