
I have seen Jean Rollin's
The Grapes of Death (or if you prefer the French title,
Les raisins de la mort) twice now. The first time was in 2007 after I asked for some foreign zombie movie recommendations on IMDb. I remember this being one of the main movies recommended and being a fan of some of the other French horror movies I'd seen around the same time, I sought this one out promptly.
Well, to put it simply: I was disappointed.
I imagine the main thought in my mind at that time was:
where the fuck are the zombies? By standard ideas of what counts as a zombie both back when this was made and now, the things in this movie are not what I would call zombies and quite frankly, I certainly wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for zombie movies, at least not without a warning.

However, having forgotten most of what actually happens in the movie outside of the opening and the music that accompanies it, I recently decided to give it a second try, this time with more of an open mind, which admittedly, I probably lacked back in 2007. And with that open mind, I've realized that this has a lot more in common with
The Crazies (original and remake) than any particular zombie movie. It's still not a movie I want to go out of my way to buy anytime soon, but do I still hate it?
Let's find out with another...
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