Nazis + Zombies = 'Overlord'

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Wyatt Russell in "Overlord." (Paramount Pictures)

Take the greatest movie villains of the 20th century (Nazis), put them in the blender with the greatest horror phenomenon of the 21st century (zombies) and you get the WWII horror thriller "Overlord" (in theaters November 9th).

To be honest, the Nazi/zombie crossover has a long and sleazy history that dates back to low-rent drive-in movies from the 70s (1977's "Shock Waves" starring Peter Cushing and John Carradine!). For gamers, Nazi zombies were a highlight of last year's "Call of Duty: WW2."

This time, however, we're getting a major studio movie produced by J.J. Abrams of "Star Wars," "Star Trek" and "Lost" fame with a cast that includes Pilou Asbæk ("A War," Euron Greyjoy on "Game of Thrones"), Wyatt Russell (Kurt and Goldie Hawn's son, best known for "Everybody Wants Some!!"), Jovan Adepo ("Fences," HBO's "The Leftovers"), Bokeem Woodbine (season 2 of "Fargo") and John Magaro ("War Machine," Vince on "Orange is the New Black").

Abrams paired a script from high-powered screenwriters Billy Ray (Oscar-nominated for "Captain Phillips") and Mark L. Smith ("The Revenant") with young director Julius Avery. With "Inglourious Basterds," Quentin Tarantino combined a grindhouse WWII exploitation premise with A-list talent and turned out something approaching a great movie. 

Can the Nazis really create a "thousand year army" from their zombie serum? Will AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" actually be used in the movie or is it another one of those movie trailer fakeouts? Since Nazi medical research didn't actually manage to create zombie soldiers (#truenews), should "Overlord" even count as a WWII movie? Answers to come this fall but, in the meantime, check out the trailer below.

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