''The Astro-Zombies'' is a 1968 American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

written, directed and produced by

Ted V. Mikels Ted V. Mikels (born Theodore Vincent Mikacevich; April 29, 1929 – October 16, 2016) was an American independent filmmaker primarily of the horror cult film genre. Movies that he both produced and directed include ''Girl in Gold Boots'' (1968) ...

, and starring

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...

Wendell Corey Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a board member of the Screen Actors Guild, and also served on the ...

, and

Tura Satana Tura Satana (July 10, 1938Some sources give her birth year as 1935, i.e. Dave Itzkoff"Tura Satana, Cult Actress, Is Dead" ''New York Times'', February 5, 2011; accessed January 8, 2014. – February 4, 2011) was a Japanese American actress, sh ...

Plot

Having been fired by the space agency, a disgruntled scientist creates superhuman monsters from the body parts of murder victims. The creatures eventually escape and go on a killing spree, attracting the attention of both an international spy ring and the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

Cast

as Holman *

as Dr. DeMarco * Tom Pace as Eric Porter * Joan Patrick as Janine Norwalk *

as Satana *

Rafael Campos Rafael Campos (May 13, 1936 – July 9, 1985) was an American actor whose credits include ''Blackboard Jungle'' (1955), '' Dino'' (1957), '' The Light in the Forest'' (1958), '' Slumber Party '57'' (1976), '' The Astro-Zombies'' (1968), McMillan ...

as Juan * Joseph Hoover as Chuck Edwards * Victor Izay as Dr. Petrovich * William Bagdad as Franchot * Vincent Barbi as Tyros * Vic Lance as the chauffeur * Egon Sirany as Sergio Demozhenin * Rod Wilmoth as Astro-Zombie #1 / Astro Zombie #2

Production

Mikels said he started writing it when he made his first film, ''

Strike Me Deadly ''Strike Me Deadly'' is a 1963 American thriller film written and directed by Ted V. Mikels in his directorial debut, and starring Gary Clarke, Jeannine Riley, and Steve Ihnat. Its plot follows a man and his wife who, after witnessing a murder, a ...

''. Produced by Ram Ltd. and Ted V. Mikels Film Production, ''The Astro-Zombies'' was filmed on a low budget of $37,000, with $3,000 of the budget used to pay Carradine. The film would be Mikels' last collaboration with Wayne M. Rogers (of later ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richa ...

'' fame), who also co-wrote and co-produced the film. Scenes were shot at the residence of

Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC series ''Columbo'' (196 ...

, a friend of Rogers that was to be featured in a cameo that Mikels cut because of being "too funny". Mikels remembers it as "a very easy shoot. I shot half of it myself because I only had money for a crew for two weeks, so I spent two weeks shooting all the stuff around town, all the chases and all that". The score was written by Nico Karaski, cinematography was handled by Robert Maxwell and editing by Art Names.

Release and reception

''The Astro-Zombies'' was released in May 1968, at a runtime of 94 minutes. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "There's almost nothing good to say for this horror scifier ... The scifi aspects don't enthrall and the thrill aspects don't shock". Author and film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

awarded the film the lowest possible rating of "Bomb", calling it "yet another nominee for worst picture of all time". On his website ''Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings'', Dave Sindelar called the film "wretched", criticizing the film's messy plot and "talky/dull" scenes. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' called the film "one of the all-time worst sci-fi pictures". In a retrospective review, David Cornelius of ''eFilmCritic.com'' gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, calling it the worst film ever made, and criticized the film's acting, its "painful-to-the-eyes production values", and the film's absence of reason.

Sequels

Nearly 40 years after the film's release, Mikels would direct three low-budget sequels starting with 2004's ''Mark of the Astro-Zombies'', 2010's ''Astro-Zombies M3: Cloned'', and 2012's ''Astro-Zombies M4: Invaders from Cyberspace''. Tura Satana would return for the second and third films prior to her death in 2011.

Influence

American

horror punk Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by t ...

band the Misfits recorded a song titled "Astro Zombies", released on their 1982 album ''

Walk Among Us ''Walk Among Us'' is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Misfits, released in March 1982 by Ruby Records and its parent label Slash Records. It was the first full-length album to be released by the band, although it was the th ...

''. The lyrics, by frontman

Glenn Danzig Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, film director and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He ...

, were written from the perspective of mad scientist Dr. DeMarco. The film was spoofed in 2016 by comedians

Michael J. Nelson Michael John Nelson (born October 11, 1964) is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's origi ...

Bill Corbett William Daniel Corbett (born March 30, 1960) is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''), for which he voiced Crow ...

, and Kevin Murphy for Rifftrax.

References

External links

* * theatrical trailer * {{DEFAULTSORT:Astro-Zombies, The 1968 films 1968 horror films 1960s English-language films 1960s monster movies 1960s science fiction horror films American zombie films American science fiction horror films American exploitation films American mad scientist films Films directed by Ted V. Mikels 1960s American films American monster movies English-language science fiction horror films