Nazis At The Center Of The Earth Review by Bobby LePire. Edited by Courtney McAllister.

 

Side note- In the majority of my reviews I do try to avoid major spoilers and explaining the plot in its entirety, because I want you, the reader, to seek these out and have as much fun with them as I did. However, my favorite “OMDG! That’s so awesome” moments here are due to something phenomenally kickass, but it is most assuredly a spoiler, so MAJOR SPOILER WARNING! MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!

 

Over the past decade I’ve spent watching The Asylum’s output, it’s been quite inspiring to see them evolve from ridiculous high concept, but lacking the funds to do the concept justice, a la “Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus” is mostly the actors standing around discussing the monsters, with very little of the titular creatures battling. Both of its sequels are vast bloody improvements- more carnage, mayhem, and way more fun. All this to say that “Nazis At The Center Of The Earth” (mockbusting “Iron Sky” if you must know) delivers all the demented fun that the premise of the title evokes, plus some!

 

The cast expertly navigates that fine line between winking at the audience and playing it straight enough to be taken seriously. The beautiful and talented Dominique Swain, playing Dr. Paige Morgan, is clearly having a ball playing an action heroine. Her action beats are all in the climatic ending fight, but are some of the best of the film. She also gets the single greatest one liner of all time, yelling at Mecha-Hitler (yes! This movie has Mecha-Hitler and it is as gloriously insane/ kickass/ awesome as you’re thinking)-

 

“Come on, you bobble headed, zombie-Nazi son of a bitch!”

 

Swain is so badass, she taunts Mecha-Hitler. I love this movie!

 

Jake Busey plays colleague Dr. Adrian Reistad (all of our main characters have or are earning their PhDs in various fields). Busey, like his dad, has a tendency to mumble his lines quite quickly, but it’s all bug-eyed insanity and cocksure fire ‘n brimstone out of him (and with how the character is written) that makes the mumbling work. The audience can still relate to him; he might have a wonky way of doing stuff, but he proves he knows what he’s talking about and is right often enough to warrant it.

 

The final person in our main trio of docs is Paige’s significant other, Lucas Moss, portrayed by Joshua Allen. Allen is the straight man in the group, so he doesn’t get to overact wildly a la Busey or get some cathartic, wildly reckless action moments, but he’s also the most likable and relatable with the best motivation throughout the movie.

 

Hitler… well, his human head attached to a mecha body (!!) is acted with ferocious, terrifying intensity by James Maxwell. I can’t imagine it was easy to do this performance (again, just a head) but he makes it seem effortless. But let us not overlook our main Nazi antagonist (Mecha-Hitler comes into play a little over halfway through) Josef Mengele. The ‘Angel Of Death’ is alive and well, thanks to cloning (which explains a lot, but does leave some plotholes. Who cares because Mecha-Hitler!). Christopher Karl Johnson is menacing and creepy as hell throughout. As the representative of our antagonists for the bulk of the runtime, Johnson exudes the right ickiness that leaves you just waiting for his comeuppance.

 

This movie certainly does get Mengele’s obsession with human experiments right. There are several gory elements on display throughout, but it’s not gratuitous. A lot of the tension derives from waiting to see who’ll be next, and if they can escape. One of the first experiments showcases exactly how dark this is willing to go (which is very)- a kidnapped scientist from the beginning has no flesh on his face, just muscle and veins. The makeup effects headed by Carleigh Herbert and her talented team are gnarly, gooey, nasty, and completely appropriate. Later on, a fellow scientist has been taken and his whole body has been stripped of flesh. Low budget, big budget, indie, mainstream, or anything inbetween doesn’t matter, as those effects are good enough to battle the big boys, and are better than some similar elements in bigger budgeted films. There’s a brain surgery sequence with one of the major supporting players, and she’s conscious for it; eyes darting back and forth, screaming in agony, pain in her eyes. The acting, makeup, and direction all meshed perfectly to capture a truly horrifying moment.

 

That holds true for all but one character. After being given a new face (see above), this Nazi gets infected with what turns out to be polio and gets scar tissue damage. The yellow coloring for the makeup is too bright to look believable, and is done very slapdashy, almost as if someone had just smeared yellow sidewalk chalk all over the actor’s face. This character pops up every now and again, and never fails to take me out of the film.

 

The film also drags a bit in the journey to the Nazi occupied center of the Earth. No real characterizations happen during this time, and while some awesome shots come out of it, I don’t think it was necessary for us to see their entire journey until they stumble upon the Nazi base/ spaceship; Mecha-Hitler and Nazi middle of the core spaceship! What else does one need in a film? Nothing, I say!

 

Director Joseph Lawson, while having some other credits to his name since this, is mostly the visual effects supervisor at The Asylum and is (not quite single handedly) responsible for the vast improvements and wide array of new effects that the production house continues to show off. It’s no surprise then that “Nazis At The Center Of The Earth” has some of the most impressively complicated effects The Asylum has ever engineered, which makes everything here that much sweeter. The Nazi base/ spaceship has several independently operating turrets, massive spinning fan, and thrusters, and there was a time where they simply could not afford that at all. It’s very exciting and cool that this does exist. But of course, it’s Mecha-Hitler that is the greatest CGI effect in the film (and quite possibly of The Asylum’s entire filmography). Whirring, sliding, twisting gears to control movement in each joint, Adolf’s human head in a reflective glass dome atop (which does have reflections in it often), it’s a real work of art. It has a nice weight to it, looks like metal not rubber, and the transition from one weapon to the next at its disposal is fun to witness.

 

With as good to great as most of the effects are, some aren’t quite up to snuff. During the opening prologue, set near the end of WWII, most of the period vehicles are CGI and aren’t too convincing. Each vehicle seems too plastic/ rubbery looking, and never quite align with the sets. I am guessing this was rushed, seeing as how reliant the rest of the film is so on it’s visual effects, and for much more important dramatic reasons. I get why, it’s just a little distracting.

 

Chris Ridenhour’s score is fun and effective, especially the title music. The costumes are good- gas masks may be a bit cliche for conveying creepiness, but they do work- but nothing really stood out to me.

While slightly flawed, this is definitely worth watching. Adventure, action, romance, and a bloody Mecha-Hitler! Yeah, tis the stuff awesome is made from!