{{Infobox film | native_name = {{Infobox name module|es|Malnazidos|nolink=y}} | image = Valley of the Dead (film) poster.jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = {{Plain list| * Javier Ruiz Caldera * Alberto de Toro }} | producer = {{Plain list| * Ghislain Barrois * Álvaro Augustin * Cristian Conti * Javier Ugarte * Edmon Roch }} | writer = {{Plain list| * Jaime Marques Olarreaga * Alberto Fernández Arregui * Cristian Conti }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Miki Esparbé * Aura Garrido * Luis Callejo * Álvaro Cervantes * Jesús Carroza * María Botto }} | music = Javier Rodero | cinematography = Kiko de la Rica | editing = | production_companies = {{plain list| * Telecinco Cinema * Cactus Flower Producciones * Malnazidos AIE * La Terraza Films * Ikiru Films }} | distributor = Sony Pictures Releasing | released = {{Film date|df=y|2020|10|08|Sitges|2022|03|11|Spain}} | runtime = 102 min | country = Spain | language = Spanish | budget = | gross = }} '''''Valley of the Dead''''' ({{langx|es|'''Malnazidos'''|links=no}})<ref name="decider">{{Cite web|url=https://decider.com/2022/07/11/valley-of-the-dead-on-netflix-stream-it-or-skip-it/|website=decider.com|date=11 July 2022|first=Josh|last=Serba|title=Stream It Or Skip It: 'Valley of the Dead' on Netflix, a Spanish Zombie Comedy Full of All the Usual Moaning, Biting and Headshooting}}</ref> is a 2020 Spanish zombie action film directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera and Alberto de Toro. Set in the latter period of the Spanish Civil War, the film features an ensemble cast of Miki Esparbé, Aura Garrido, Luis Callejo, Álvaro Cervantes, Jesús Carroza and María Botto.
The film premiered at a 53rd Sitges Film Festival, and was set to be theatrically released in January 2021, to be distributed by Sony Pictures, but its release was delayed twice as a result of COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. The film was eventually opened to Spanish theatres on 11 March 2022. == Plot == During the Spanish Civil War, a column of Waffen-SS troops arrive at a village and slaughter the inhabitants before hurling gas canisters containing a substance onto the corpses.
Jan, a Nationalist soldier, is saved from execution for assaulting a judge by his uncle, General Lozano, who, in exchange, orders Jan to deliver a message to a frontline unit. Private Decruz, who Jan had saved from being executed for desertion, is assigned as his driver. Along the way, the two witness a Nationalist pilot ejecting from a shot-down aircraft. Seeking to rescue him, Jan and Decruz go to the crash site, but find the pilot dead. They are then captured by a group of Republicans led by a man who simply calls himself "Sergeant".
As the Republicans lead Jan and Decruz to their encampment, the group's photographer is bitten by the now-reanimated pilot and turns into a zombie; whom both are dispatched. Arriving at their recently bombed encampment, they are attacked by their reanimated comrades, forcing them to escape by boat, but Brodsky, the Russian member of the group, is overwhelmed by the infected. Reaching a cabin, they find it occupied by Nationalist soldiers Jurell and Rafir, and a nun, Flor, resulting in a standoff that lasts until Jan convinces the two sides to form a truce. Jurrel and Rafir later spot a large horde of infected heading towards the cabin, and Sergeant orders an evacuation. They come across an electric fence with a zombified Brodsky stuck in it and realize that the SS had sealed off the entire valley. Jan dispatches Brodsky to spare Sergeant from the pain.
Jan reveals that the message he was carrying contains a map written in invisible ink, showing the location of what he suspects to be experiments. The group agrees to investigate. At the village, they find a lone survivor of the earlier massacre—Ana, who was shielded by her husband from gunfire and says that the SS conducted experiments until they were slaughtered by the infected. Jaime, the Republican unit's commissar, discovers the formula for making zombies and plans to bring this to his superiors to win the war. His companions disagree, and a standoff ensues before Jaime is swarmed and killed by the infected. The group flees through the church tunnels. Rafir is almost bitten by a zombified Ana, while Flor reveals that she had been bitten and stays behind to hold off the zombies.
Jan convinces the group to go to his base to find an antidote for the plague, revealing that his brother is a Republican soldier. Upon arriving, Lozano reveals that he knows of the outbreak and pleads Jan to leave the valley before the Germans launch a bombing raid, but Jan refuses. The SS Commander subsequently kills Lozano when he attempts to delay the bombing. Decruz reveals he was bitten earlier and volunteers to sacrifice himself, blasting a hole to allow the group to enter the base. The explosion also attracts a horde of infected who swarm the base, slaughtering the Germans and the Nationalists. Rafir is pulled down by a zombie while assisting his companions, while Match, a Republican, and Jurrell are trapped inside a truck surrounded by zombies. After reconciling with one another, they discover a large crate containing explosives at the back, which Match ignites to blow themselves up along with the zombies.
Jan and Priest-killer, the only woman in the Republican group, storms the laboratory train car and confronts the SS commander, who injects himself with the formula and declares there is no antidote. Priest-killer shoots the SS officer in the head before he could reanimate, but Jan is bitten on the hand by another zombie. Priest-killer immediately amputates his hand with her machete, preventing his transformation. Sergeant manages to get the train moving but sacrifices himself as zombies close in on him. German bomber planes arrive and pummel the valley, obliterating the base and engulfing the train as Jan and Priest-killer kiss.
Rafir, Jan, and Priest-killer survive the bombing. Priest-killer brings Jan to the Nationalist lines and tells him her intention to escape into France, before going their separate ways.
In the mid-credits scene, a hand moves amongst the train wreckage as a scream is heard.
== Cast == {{Cast list| * Miki Esparbé as Jan Lozano<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sensacine.com/noticias/cine/noticia-18584555/|website=Sensacine|title='Malnazidos': 'Teaser' póster en EXCLUSIVA de lo nuevo de Aura Garrido y Miki Esparbé|date=14 September 2020|last=Zamora|first=Andrea|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es}}</ref> * Aura Garrido as Matacuras<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.es/play/cine/noticias/abci-malnazidos-apocalipsis-zombie-durante-guerra-civil-202010081616_noticia.html|website=abcplay|publisher=ABC|title="Malnazidos", apocalipsis zombie durante la Guerra Civil|date=9 October 2020|first=Mariló|last=García|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es}}</ref> ('Priest-killer') * Luis Callejo as Sargento<ref name="metropoli" /> * Álvaro Cervantes as Mecha<ref name=elperiodico>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elperiodico.com/es/ocio-y-cultura/20190621/rodaje-caldera--de-toro-malnazidos-guerra-civil-zombi-7516599|website=El Periódico|title=La guerra civil en versión zombi|date=21 June 2019|first=Beatriz|last=Martínez|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es}}</ref> (‘Matches’) * Jesús Carroza as Jurell<ref name="metropoli">{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/metropoli/cine/2022/03/08/62260560fdddff7a4b8b45cb.html|website=Metrópoli|via=El Mundo|date=8 March 2022|title=Malnazidos: la 'otra' Guerra Civil con zombis y nazis|first=Javier|last=Estrada}}</ref> * María Botto as Sor Flor<ref name="metropoli" /> ('Sister Flor') * {{ill|Dafnis Balduz|es}} as Jaime<ref name="metropoli" /> * {{ill|Manel Llunell|es}} as Decruz<ref name="decider" /> * Mouad Ghazouan as Rafir<ref name=t5>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telecinco.es/t5cinema/malnazidos/conoce-combatientes-personajes-pelicula_18_3295700093.html|website=Telecinco|date=10 March 2022|title=Conoce a todos los combatientes de 'Malnazidos': estos son los personajes de la película}}</ref> * {{ill|Sergio Torrico|es}} as Brodsky<ref name=t5 /> * Francisco Reyes as SS commander<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/metropoli/cine/2022/03/08/62260560fdddff7a4b8b45cb.html|website=Metrópoli|via=elmundo.es|date=8 March 2022|first=Javier|last=Estrada|title=Malnazidos: la 'otra' Guerra Civil con zombis y nazis}}</ref> }}
== Production == ''Malnazidos'' is an adaptation of the novel ''Noche de difuntos del 38'' by Manuel Martín Ferreras.<ref name=elcorreo /> The film was produced by Telecinco Cinema, Cactus Flower Producciones, Malnazidos AIE, La Terraza Films and Ikiru Films.<ref name=ecartelera>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ecartelera.com/noticias/primer-trailer-malnazidos-guerra-civil-zombies-aura-garrido-62470/|website=ecartelera|title=Primer tráiler de 'Malnazidos', la Guerra Civil con zombies, Aura Garrido y Miki Esparbé|date=1 October 2020|first=Jesús|last=Agudo|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es}}</ref> It was co-directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera and Alberto de Toro whereas the screenplay was written by Jaime Marqués Olarreaga, Alberto Fernández Arregui and Cristian Conti.<ref name=ecartelera /> Ghislain Barrois, Álvaro Augustin, Cristian Conti, Javier Ugarte and Edmon Rochare were credited as producers.<ref name=elcorreo>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elcorreo.com/butaca/en-rodaje/malnazidos-zombis-guerra-20190507152846-ntrc.html|website=El Correo|title='Malnazidos': una de zombis en la Guerra Civil|date=7 May 2021|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es|archive-date=2019-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507163900/https://www.elcorreo.com/butaca/en-rodaje/malnazidos-zombis-guerra-20190507152846-ntrc.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shooting took place in Catalonia.<ref name=elperiodico />
== Release == The film premiered on 8 October 2020, at the 53rd Sitges Film Festival (FICFC).<ref name=hobbyconsolas>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hobbyconsolas.com/reviews/critica-malnazidos-pelicula-inaugural-festival-sitges-marcado-pandemia-733465|website=HobbyConsolas|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es|first=Raquel|last=Hernández Luján|date=9 October 2020|title=Crítica de Malnazidos, la película inaugural del Festival de Sitges, marcado por la pandemia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/cine/20201008/483937854409/malnazidos-zombis-salpican-humor-aventuras-guerra-civil-espanola.html|website=La Vanguardia|title='Malnazidos': Los zombis salpican de humor y aventuras la guerra civil española|first=Astrid|last=Meseguer|date=8 October 2020|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es}}</ref>
Initially intended to be theatrically released in Spain on 22 January 2021, the release was postponed to 24 September 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the shelving of all Telecinco Cinema titles pending for theatrical release.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elespanol.com/bluper/television/20210102/ano-mediaset-dio-espalda-cine-espanol/547696169_0.html|website=Bluper|publisher=El Español|title=2020, el año en el que Mediaset le dio la espalda al cine español|date=2 January 2021|first=Juanma|last=Fdez|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.audiovisual451.com/mediaset-regresa-a-las-salas-de-cine-el-25-de-junio-con-la-comedia-operacion-camaron/|website=Audiovisual451|title=Mediaset regresa a las salas de cine el 25 de junio con la comedia 'Operación Camarón'|date=10 May 2021|access-date=2021-10-07|language=es}}</ref> Postponed again, its release was eventually rescheduled for 11 March 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/a38895292/malnazidos-trailer-poster-oficial-zombies-guerra-civil/|website=Fotogramas|title='Malnazidos': Tráiler y cartel oficial de la película|first=Mireia|last=Mullor|date=26 January 2022}}</ref>
== Accolades == {{Awards table|5}} |- | rowspan = "4" align = "center" | 2023 | rowspan = "2" | 15th Gaudí Awards || Best Visual Effects || Lluís Rivera, Laura Pedro || {{nom}} || rowspan = "2" | <ref>{{Cite web|website=3/24|date=22 January 2023|title=En directe {{!}} Premis Gaudí: "Alcarràs" i "Un año, una noche", les més nominades de la nit|url=https://www.ccma.cat/324/arriben-els-premis-gaudi-alcarras-i-un-ano-una-noche-les-mes-nominades-de-la-nit/noticia/3207981/|via=Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals}}</ref> |- | Best Makeup and Hairstyles || Montse Sanfeliu, Jesús Martos || {{nom}} |- | rowspan = "2" | 37th Goya Awards | Best Costume Design | Cristina Rodríguez | {{nom}} | rowspan = "2" align = "center" | <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cadenaser.com/nacional/2023/02/12/ganadores-de-los-premios-goya-2023-lista-completa-de-premiados-en-la-gala-cadena-ser/|website=Cadena SER|date=12 February 2023|title=Ganadores de los Premios Goya 2023: lista completa de premiados en la gala}}</ref> |- | Best Special Effects || Lluís Rivera, Laura Pedro || {{nom}} |}
== See also == * List of Spanish films of 2022
== References == {{reflist}} {{authority control}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|tt10127708}}
{{Javier Ruiz Caldera}}
Category:2020 films Category:Spanish zombie films Category:Spanish action films Category:Spanish Civil War films Category:Films based on Spanish novels Category:Films set in 1938 Category:Films shot in Spain Category:2020 Spanish-language films Category:2020 action films Category:Telecinco Cinema films Category:Ikiru Films films Category:2020 Spanish films Category:La Terraza Films films