After an experimental weapon devastates Tasmania, Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley) joins a body retrieval unit to find her missing husband. There's just one little catch--and you've probably guessed what it is, since this is a zombie movie podcast. Where does this melancholy tale of loss and regret belong in the evolutionary tree of zombie cinema? John and Andy break into the Zombie Strains lab late at night to put WE BURY THE DEAD (2026) under the microscope. (The first half of this episode is spoiler-free; we clearly state when the spoiler discussion starts.)

A mysterious planet is hurtling toward Earth. An alien spacecraft with a zombie-creating ray has landed in the Scottish moors. And those might not actually be the villains in this Atomic Age cautionary tale! John, Andy, and Producer Brad head back to 1951 to take stock of THE MAN FROM PLANET X, a zombie film that manages to rise above its shoestring budget and remind us who the real monsters are.

Show Notes:

Theatrical release date: April 27, 1951

AFI Catalog entry

1952 Academy Award Winners

LA Time obituary for Robert Clarke

NY Times obituary for Margaret Field

NY Times obituary for Harold Gould

NY Time obituary for William Schallert

Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers, Tom Weaver

Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

Additional music by Elarasound.

www.pond5.com

Additional voice work by Russell Bentley.

Contact:

zombiestrainspodcast@gmail.com

www.zombiestrainspodcast.com

Follow us on

Andy's Substack "Fortress of Regret"

Instagram

Facebook

Dr. Alfred Morris (George Zucco) has a deadly new obsession: an ancient Mayan nerve gas that creates a state of "death in life." When his star pupil Ted Allison (David Bruce) becomes the unwitting guinea pig, he is transformed into a subservient ghoul who requires fresh human hearts to survive. Is this a simple Jekyll-and-Hyde knockoff, or is there a strain of zombie DNA to be found amidst all the heart-harvesting and the love rectangle? John, Andy, and Producer Brad venture back to 1943 to find out whether or not The Mad Ghoul is a vital link in the undead evolutionary chain.

SHOW NOTES:

Theatrical release date: November 12, 1943

AFI Catalog entry

Evelyn Anker's New York Time's obituary

George Zucco's New York Time's obituary

Turhan Bey's The Guardian obituary

TCM review of The Mad Ghoul

Jack Pierce's makeup for The Man Who Laughed (1929)

Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

Additional music by Elarasound.

www.pond5.com

Additional voice work by Russell Bentley.

Contact:

zombiestrainspodcast@gmail.com

www.zombiestrainspodcast.com

Follow us on

Andy's Substack "Fortress of Regret"

Instagram

Facebook