Have Cheetah,Will View #511 – “Panzer” (2013)

Its 2:22 pm
overcast/snow?

Settling in after a last gasp winter blast dropped about an inch of snow on us. The good news was it was gone at 11 am but just in time to hear we may get popped again Saturday!!!
What better way to stay warm and toasty then grab a blanket,a cheetah and a film that we picked up at the last Dollar Tree sale?? Yeah,I can’t think of one either…..so let’s go!!

One thing that caught my eye about “Panzer” when I picked it up at the Dollar Tree was the fact it said it was first interactive horror film. You could download the app for additional contest in the film. Before the film starts,you see a young woman who instructs the viewer on how the interactive format works. In a very nice twist as the woman explains,she is suddenly attacked and killed before the opening credits start rolling,I thought that was a very interesting way to start the movie. “Panzer” was off to a promising start…..

The film starts with a woman being tied down on the table,a figure walks over,tears open her blouse and then stabs her in the neck,allowing her blood to drain in a large container.
We then meet Julie (Melina Matthews) is studying in Spain for her Phd amd her thesis is about the Nazis hiding stolen art from Spain during World War 2. She is looking for it and presents her findings to her professor who while supporting Julie also says there isn’t any proof to her theories. He tries to get her to forget her current paper and come up with a new one.
But Julie knows she is on the right track and at her apartment she shares with her friend Rask (Ariadna Cabrol),she decides to give herself one last crack at finding the stolen art.
Julie gets a lead about a book written by a former teacher at her college who may know about the hidden art,the professor was once highly respected but was forced from the university because of his leanings towards fascism.

Julie heads to the library to find a book written by the former teacher and enlists the help of library worker Joe (Tony Corvilla) who leads Julie to the book only to to find key sections have been destroyed. Joe mentions the former professor is still around the area and after doing a bit of research about Professor Von Juntz (Josep Segui),Julie visits his house at night. She is shown into the Professor’s den where she spots a copy of Von Juntz’s book and swaps her damaged copy for his whole copy.
While Julie is hopeful that Von Juntz can tell her more about the secret bunker named “Valhalla” where the stolen art is supposed to be at,he instead tells her about the infamous Panzer chocolate that the German troops were given to help them fight.
Julie leaves but now with the whole book in her hands,she is able is deduce where Valhalla really could be at. Joe wants to help as well and with Julie’s boyfriend Micky (Mark Schardan) being a budding journalist,the group of four head to the forest where they feel the stolen art is at.
What they don’t know is that they are being expected and that the hidden bunker has a deadly secret,one that might not be discovered until too late……

So did we like “Panzer”?? Overall,despite a weak final act,it was pretty decent.  What I didn’t know what this film was originally called “Panzer Chocolate”. Looking back,I can see why they decided to go with with just “Panzer” even though there are no tanks in this movie.
I have to say right off that Melina Matthews,who plays Julie,steals the movie. While I thought she was an English actress,she is a Spanish one but her English accent was spot on. She reminded me in both her acting and looks of Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I thought she was clearly the best part of the movie.  Segui was also solid as Von Juntz but the rest of the cast was “meh” and didn’t bring much to the party.

The story had a lot of early promise but as it got deeper into the film,it just sort of fell apart. The ending was something you expect to see in a weekly cop show,it wasn’t as exciting as the build up. Director and one of three screenwriters Robert Figueras shot a good looking movie and added a new aura of suspense including some pretty wicked kills but the ending…which is too bad because “Panzer” could have been a lot more then it was.

“Panzer” has a run time of 82 minutes,if you can download the app,it adds 13 minutes but you won’t the need it to follow the movie. The film is unrated but would be rated “R” graphic nudity and violence. There are no special features.

The cheetah and I gave “Panzer” a thumbs up but wish it had a better ending act.

You can get “Panzer” on Amazon and Ebay as well as Dollar Trees when they do their film sales.

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