War of the Dead

War of the Dead
Pre-release poster as Stone's War
Directed by	Marko Mäkilaakso
Starring	Andrew Tiernan Mikko Leppilampi
Music by	Neal Acree, Joel Goldsmith
Release date	Canada  22 October 2011 (2011-10-22) (Toronto After Dark)
Running time	85 min.
Country	United States Lithuania Italy
Language	English
Budget	€1.3 million

War of the Dead is a 2011 action horror film written and directed by Finnish director Marko Mäkilaakso and starring Andrew Tiernan, Mikko Leppilampi, Jouko Ahola, Samuli Vauramo, Andreas Wilson, Mark Wingett, and Antti Reini.

In a long corridor of an underground bunker, several prisoners are marching under armed guard. As they approach the door at the end of the corridor, one prisoner seizes his chance to assault a guard, but the door opens almost immediately and several German soldiers step through to mow down the entire group, save for one prisoner who remains standing. The guards grab him and force him through the door, where he is placed on an operating table and held down as a drip is inserted into his arm and blood pumped into his veins. He stops moving for a short time before his eyes blink open revealing his irises have become zombified-white.

Some time later, American Captain Martin Stone (Tiernan) is leading a finely-trained, elite platoon of American and Finnish soldiers along with a cameraman and his son as they are sent to attack the bunker, with no knowledge of its secrets. Underestimating their enemy's strength, they are quickly beaten back into the forest. As they try to regroup, they spy a soldier sloping towards them. Identifying him as a threat, they open fire, but as they investigate his corpse it is revealed the soldier is one of their own dead from the previous encounter, and as he springs to life a second time a number of zombies leap into action from their hiding places in the trees to further destroy the unit.

Forced to flee the battle to survive, Stone along with Finns Captain Niemi (Ahola) and Lieutenant Laakso (Leppilampi) as well as the cameraman's son (Wilson) take refuge in a trench, where they encounter lone Russian soldier Kolya (Vauramo), who seems aware of the zombie presence and leads them to a house where they can shelter. They are rapidly split up and attacked, however, with Niemi being bitten and then killing the young cameraman before being gunned down by Laakso. Meanwhile, Stone finds a car in the garage before being saved by Kolya, who shows impressive hand-to-hand combat skills.

As the three survivors drive into the forest, they are attacked again by Niemi, but manage to escape him relatively easily. Stopping at another cabin, the three survivors bicker about whether to confront the supernatural threat or leave it behind, before they find Kolya's ex-girlfriend Dasha (Gorska). The four then proceed on to the bunker, where Kolya insists they can find a radio to call for help. Entering the facility, they are again split up - as Kolya finds Dacha mortally wounded, having to shoot her in the head to prevent her from turning, Laakso and Stone find the living remnants of the German garrison. As Stone stays behind to cover Laakso, the Finn is reunited with Kolya and the two find the radio room, where they call headquarters to call in an airstrike to take the bunker out for good.