The Astro-Zombies

The Astro-Zombies
Directed by Ted V. Mikels
Produced by Ted V. Mikels
Written by
Starring
Music by Nicholas Carras
Cinematography Robert Maxwell
Edited by
  • Ted V. Mikels
  • Art Names
Distributed by Geneni Film Distributors
Release dates
 May 1968
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Astro-Zombies ‒ sometimes known as The Astro Zombies (without the hyphenation), Space Zombies and The Space Vampires ‒ is a 1968 science fiction horror film starring John Carradine, Wendell Corey (in his final film appearance) and Tura Satana. It was written, directed and produced by Ted V. Mikels.

Plot

The plot follows a disgruntled scientist who, having been fired by the space agency, decides to create superhuman monsters from the body parts of innocent murder victims. The creatures eventually escape and go on a killing spree, attracting the attention of both an international spy ring and the CIA.

Cast

Production

The Astro-Zombies was filmed on a low budget of $37,000, with $3,000 of the budget used to pay Carradine.[1] The film would be Mikels' last collaboration with Wayne Rogers from M*A*S*H fame, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film.[2][3]

Reception

The film has received negative reviews from critics, with some regarding the film as the worst film ever made.

David Cornelius from eFilmCritic.com gave the film an extremely negative 1 out of 5 stars, calling it the worst film ever made and panning the film's acting, its "painful-to-the-eyes production values" and the film's absence of reason.[4] Leonard Maltin awarded the film the lowest possible rating of Bomb, calling it "yet another nominee for worst picture of all time".[5]

Sequels

In addition to the 2002 sequel Mark of the Astro-Zombies and 2010's Astro Zombies M3: Cloned, a fourth and final film, Astro Zombies M4: Invaders from Cyberspace, was released in 2012.

Influence

American horror punk band the Misfits recorded a song titled "Astro Zombies", released on their 1982 album, Walk Among Us. The lyrics, by frontman Glenn Danzig, were written from the perspective of mad scientist Dr. DeMarco.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Christopher Wayne Curry (24 October 2007). Film Alchemy: The Independent Cinema of Ted V. Mikels. McFarland. pp. 448–. ISBN 978-1-4766-0301-8.
  2. ↑ June Pulliam; Anthony J. Fonseca (19 June 2014). Encyclopedia of the Zombie: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth. ABC-CLIO. pp. 10–. ISBN 978-1-4408-0389-5.
  3. ↑ Welch D. Everman (January 1993). Cult Horror Films: From Attack of the 50 Foot Woman to Zombies of Mora Tau. Carol Publishing Group. pp. 19–. ISBN 978-0-8065-1425-3.
  4. ↑ Cornelius, David. "Movie Review - Astro-Zombies - eFilmCritic". eFilmCritic.com. David Cornelius. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Leonard Maltin (3 September 2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Group US. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-101-60955-2.
  6. ↑ http://www.dirgemag.com/danzigs-double-feature-movies-misfits/
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