Finding Meaning in “Navy Seals vs. Zombies”

Listen, “Navy Seals vs. Zombies” isn’t exactly the crown jewel of cinematic brilliance, but there’s a strange charm to its unabashed silliness. You know it’s going to be a wild ride when the title’s already spilled the beans on the plot. The movie, directed by Stanton Barrett, a stuntman and NASCAR driver, is precisely what you’d expect: action-packed chaos with zombies thrown in the mix.

I remember catching my first flick about zombies back in the summer of ’98. It was somewhere on a VHS, between having toast with cheese and watching the sun barely set in our long Swedish evenings. Zombies have always made me feel something odd—like a creeping dread that’s kind of comforting when surrounded by familiar things.

Anyway, back to the movie. The Navy Seals, played by folks like Ed Quinn and Michael Dudikoff of “American Ninja” fame, are on a mission that’s full of bullets, explosions, and not a lot of subtlety. Sometimes, I couldn’t quite tell who the zombies were because both sides seemed equally lost, but maybe that was the point? Humanity, even in the rattling tin can of a budget movie, sometimes looks a bit zombie-like too.

The fun part is seeing how they play off pernilla moments of humanity, especially in the middle of a truckload of zombie mayhem. And let’s not forget that action can sometimes speak louder—and faster—than all the dialog in the world.

Would I recommend it? Mafia pizza and a cozy couch on a rainy Tuesday in October—then yeah, why not? It’s silly, uncomplicated, and a bit endearing. It’s not Bergman, but occasionally, it’s the messy, shlocky stuff that keeps us sane too.

Check the trailer below