Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, 1963, director Ray Dennis Steckler, Starring Cash Flagg (Steckler), Carolyn Brandt. Color, 82 minutes. (Also know as The Teenage Psycho Meets Bloody Mary.) Schlock-meter rating: 5 stars out of 10.
I ll say this much: Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies is a GREAT title. And for that director/star Steckler gets three stars right off the bat. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is a confused dog, and only the carnival scenes somewhat save this semi-bore, and very non-scary, monster musical with strippers who are very clothed.
A word about the carnival. It looks a lot like the old Pike in Long Beach, Calif., a wonderful amusement place by the beach that was torn down about 20 years ago. If any web surfers reading this can verify this, I d love to know. E-mail me.
The plot is very tangled and poorly developed, but here goes. An ugly gypsy fortune teller (who looks a lot like a tired Liz Taylor with a big mole) turns a bunch of hapless fortune seekers into scarred, drugged-out zombies who have an urge to kill. (Why do zombies always have an urge to kill in films? by the way.) No reason is ever given as to why the gypsy wants these zombies around. One night free spirit, cool young guy (Steckler), who looks a bit like a homely Nicholas Cage, goes to the carnival with his rich-girl lady (Brandt). They have a spat when he eyes a comely dancer, and she stalks off.
Steckler goes after the dancer, and falls into the clutches of the evil fortune teller. He spends the rest of the film wandering around in a daze, occasionally killing and once trying to kill his girl. Later the zombies revolt and wreck havoc around the carnival. Steckler is pursued to the beach, where he meets his fate.
The film is too undisciplined to take seriously. Several times scenes don t seem to mesh with the plot and often there is no explanation for why anything is occurring. The viewer is never told how the evil gypsy controls minds. She mumbles in dreams and we see a bad imitation of the Twilight Zone spiral (was this film shot originally in 3D?). I have heard rumors that in theaters ushers were forced to dress up like zombies and run through the theaters. s this true? If someone knows, please inform me.
It was advertised as a monster musical and as a result, we re forced to watch a lot of bad singing and dancing. The acting is poor, but the actors at least try with what they have to work with. As mentioned, the best part is the carny stuff. The film captures the seedy side of small-time carnival life a generation ago. Unfortunately, the limitations of the filmmakers and likely, a very tiny budget, produce what s mostly a talky bore. But still a great title!