The Spanish Civil War has been the subject of uncountable films, most of them in the terrains of history-drama. But some productions have taken the twist of mixing that infamous period of the country’s history with supernatural and fantasy tales. Guillermo del Toro had his own take with the delicious Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and in the last years, we’ve had a couple of horror movies from the Basque Country, the blacksmith from the devil Errementari (2017), and a touchy vampires tale All the Moons (2020) (aka Ilargi Guztiak).
Now it’s the time for Malnazidos (2020), translated as Valley of the Dead for the international market, which brings hordes of flesh-eating zombies to the war fields.
In the movie, 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.
The movie has been directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera, known for his comedy-oriented fantasy and thriller movies hit titles in the Spanish market Spanish Movie (2009), Ghost Graduation (2012), Spy Time (2015), and Superlopez (2018), together with the debutant co-director Alberto de Toro. Jaime Marques, the writer of Intruders (2011), and Cristian Conti, also a producer of the film, are responsible for the screenplay.
The main cast in Malnazidos (2020) is formed by Miki Esparbé, Aura Garrido, Luis Callejo, Álvaro Cervantes, Jesús Carroza, Sergio Torrico, Manel Llunell, Mouad Ghazouan, María Botto, and Manuel Morón.
The movie had its premiere at the Sitges Film Festival in 2020 and later was released in Spain in 2022 after a few delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Netflix has distribution rights and is releasing the movie under the international name Valley of the Dead (2020) on July 11, 2022.
Wath here its official trailer in the Spanish language. Sadly, without subtitles. Netflix has not yet released the English version of the trailer.
