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.
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.