Blitzkrieg: Escape From Stalag 69

Blitzkrieg: Escape From Stalag 69 is Keith J Crocker's(The Bloody Ape) low-budget take on Nazi cinema. Blitzkrieg, for the most part, takes place at a Nazi camp where the people being held are planning to escape. The Nazi community in this camp is beginning to have some serious problems amongst themselves about the way they handle their business. The uprising is being planned at the perfect time and it may just work considering the bond between the Nazis is at its weakest.

THE POSITIVE:

The last thirty minutes of the film really makes it somewhat worth watching. The violence gets cranked up. We see nipple cutting, castration, and some fairly sleazy moments that involve the sexy Nazi women. This whole section, leading to the conclusion, brings back that trashy feel that caused me to enjoy The Bloody Ape so much. Some scenes of dialogue are fairly interesting, and surprisingly the dialogue isn't completely ruined by the acting (which actually isn't too bad from most of the cast). The conclusion is very pleasing and is pulled off well. The writing for the film is certainly not bad, it just needs to be trimmed down in a major way.

THE NEGATIVE:

The movie shows a bit of both worlds while we are guided around the Nazi camp. It dedicates a major chunk of time to showing the shenanigans that the Nazis have from day to day in the camp, but at certain points we get to see things from the perspective of the people that are being held there. These sections are where the movie really shines most. Unfortunately these moments aren't utilized very often. This wouldn't have been too much of a con but due to the fact that the movie is heavily driven by dialogue seeing things through the eyes of the Nazis grows to be quite tiring.

The main problem with Blitzkrieg is the runtime and pacing. The flick clocks in at around two hours and twelve minutes. For a no budget film (with a few exceptions) this length is practically suicide. As mentioned before it is mainly driven by dialogue and fairly low on action. The pace of the film rarely changes up until the last thirty minutes or so. Once things do really pick up in this last section it is great but sadly the hefty section before that causes the overall film to suffer.

THE VERDICT:

Overall Blitzkrieg is by no means horrible, but it doesn't really have enough going for it to warrant any replay value. Popping this in right after viewing The Bloody Ape and going in with high expectations I can safely say I was left disappointed. On a rainy day with nothing to do this could possibly be slightly enjoyable. The main flaw is the fact that right when things begin to pick up the average viewers attention will be completely lost. I found the final half hour to be GREAT, but even at that point it couldn't save the film from falling somewhere below average.