Teenage Zombies, 1959

 

Four wholesome, all-American teens go for a boat ride out to a remote island for a picnic lunch. While there they encounter a strange woman and a crew of glossy-eyed, drugged-out looking workers. Running off, they discover that their boat is missing and are forced to confront the mysterious woman.

Trouble, as trouble will, ensues, as the woman in question turns out to be a scientist and part of a larger, international organization with a fairly nefarious agenda in mind. 

Actual zombie action is very minimal - One worker, Ivan, and for a brief moment, a couple of girls. Oh yeah, also, a gorilla. Yes. A gorilla.  

    Props for Ivan as the zombified manservant for creepiness, though. The others workers aren’t shown during the movie aside from the initial shot, although mentioned and the threat of mass ‘zombism’ is present and a pivotal plot point.

As Teenage Zombies was pre-Romero, the zombies are of the voodoo variety, although not brought on by voodoo but a nerve gas. Also, the effects on the inflicted appear to be temporary and reversible with an antidote.

The ‘acting’ is amateurish but enthusiastic, with lines delivered similar to a Leave It To Beaver scene. The whole movie plays out like a live-action Scooby Doo, minus the dog, and actual scares are about as common as a Halloween episode of Dobie Gillis, (And I acknowledge NOBOY is going to catch that reference!)

 

Going through the Zombie Movie Rubric is NOT a good thing for Teenage Zombies! An almost zero Zombie presence, coupla’ nickels-budget, stereotypical teens, and effects so bad that I can’t even use the term ‘special,’ (I mean, I have seen more convincing looking gorilla costumes in the Spirit Halloween store!) All adds up to a pretty lousy score for this feature - 0.88 out of a possible 4. This earns it a definite ‘Avoid’ if looking for a zombie movie.

In fact, I feel a little bad reviewing this as a zombie movie. As an entry into the assorted 50s drive-in features, it would still garner luke-warm   “meh” reactions I am sure. 

There is the movie trailer on YouTube, and that is enough. TEENAGE ZOMBIES  

King of the Zombies, (1941)

   A plane carrying a U.S. government agent, his valet and a pilot crashlands on a remote island on the way to the Bahamas. Here they find, Dr. Sangre, a Lugosi-esque mad scientist-type who just happens to have a mansion infested with the living dead. 

At midnight, they are said to attack the living.

    Originally set to be a straight horror film, production changes were made to make it more comedic following the success of Bob Hope's Ghostbreakers the year before. Monogram Pictures cinched it so by bringing in their leading bug-eyed funnyman, Mantan Moreland. 

   Laughs outnumber the scares in this mystery flick with elements of Dracula, King Kong, Abbott & Costello, and Scooby-Doo, (especially in the wrap-up,) so this may well be the very first "Zom-Com!"

   The zombies are of the voodoo variety and, sadly, onscreen for too-brief amount of time, and provide minimal threat when they are.

  The ZMR gave it a 2.5 rating but doesn't take its dated nature into consideration.

  This is less for zombie movie fans than it is for classic movie buffs, and Mantan Moreland not only steals every scene he is in, but the whole damned movie!

Here is the movie trailer: KING OF THE ZOMBIES

I am sure that the whole film is also available on YouTube if you like what you see!

Plague of the Zombies, (1966)

Plague of the Zombies is Britain's Hammer Studios only entry into the zombie genre. Like all Hammer Studio films, it is just dripping with class. Hammer has always spent a good chunk of camera time setting up the mood and story, so it does run slower compared to today's average zombie flick. Also, it is important to know that these are pre-Romero-style zombies, of the voodoo variety, so they are not attacking the living for their flesh. These guys are under the control of a "necromancer" who brought them back from their graves to work for him. As such, the zombies are not the actually danger here, they are merely the tools and weapons, (and also victims,) of the actual danger.

In the 1960s, Hammer Studios seemed to be focusing on its horror films, reviving classic monsters with Dracula: The Prince of Darkness, The Mummy, The Curse of the Werewolf, Phantom of the Opera, The Witches, and The Evil of Frankenstein. Plague is treated with the same polish and atmosphere as these movies, so the only way one would be disappointed in watching this is if they were 'dead set' (*snicker*) on seeing a flesh-eating, living dead flick.

     So, there is your caveat: this is not a modern-day zombie movie. It is a voodoo/evil satanist/witchcraft-practitioner raising the dead as slaves type of movie. This movie is for fans of classic monster movies or of Hammer Studios productions, (like myself.)

The Zombie Movie Rubric gave it a 2.375 out of a possible 4 points despite its age and pacing, so that should tell you something.

Oh, yeah, Plague... also was the first film to show the now-famous 'dead-rising-from-their-graves' cemetery scene. 

Plus, some good & creepy zombies!

And of course, here is the official theatrical trailer available on YouTube: The Plague of the Zombies