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:

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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:

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Every day, scientist Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) wakes up to the same routine: scrounge for food. Repair his shelter. Head to town... and kill every vampire he finds there. How did he wind up as The Last Man on Earth(1964)? Is there any hope left for him after the apocalypse? And is it possible that this vampire movie is the biggest evolutionary leap forward in the zombie genre so far? John, Andy, and Producer Brad grab their stakes and garlic and brace for an apocalyptic zombie film that paves the way toward Night of the Living Dead.

SHOW NOTES:

Theatrical release date: May 6, 1964

Cemetery Dance interview with Richard Matheson

New York Times article on Robert Lippert and his troubles with the Screen Actors Guild. 9/9/1965

New York Times article announcing Sears and Roebuck's Vincent Price Collection. 6/9/1962.

Observer article on The Vincent Price Collection opening in Denver, CO.

Talking Heads Remain in Light press kit with bibliography.

April 21, 1988 Rolling Stone interview with David Byrne.

Rob Zombie and Waxwork Records release The Last Man on Earth soundtrack.

TCM podcast The Plot Thickens - Season 6 - Cleopatra

Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

Additional music by Elarasound.

www.pond5.com

Additional voice work by Russell Bentley.

www.pond5.com

Additional music by

Contact:

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When evil sorcerer Aderbal (John Drew Barrymore) invokes the power of a sinister three-eyed goddess to raise an invulnerable zombie army, only one man has the courage (and biceps) to stop him: centurion Gaius (Ettore Mani). This sword-and-sandal epic set in ancient Rome has it all: swords! sandals! beautiful women! bare-chested men! And, of course, zombies. Does this zombie army live up to the hype? There's only one way to find out: join the Zombie Strains crew on an odyssey into the Italian peplum genre.

SHOW NOTES:

Movie poster artist Reynold Brown

1961 New York Times article on the art of dubbing in Italian films.

With Gorley and Rust episode on Rosemary's Baby, John referenced.

Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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When three hep cats visit a sinister fortune teller at the carnival, their future takes a turn for the worse. The mysterious Madam Estrella wants Jerry to join her collection of hypnotized, murderous zombies. Will Harold and Angela save their friend before it's too late? John, Andy and Producer Brad gaze into their crystal ball to try and divine whether there's a good zombie flick to be found amidst all the crazy camerawork and psychedelic madness of this infamous B-horror schlockfest.

SHOW NOTES:

Theatrical Release Date: February 10, 1964

Ray Dennis Steckler 20 Film Boxed Set

Dark Eyes of London blog posting on Ray Dennis Steckler

Carolyn Brandt: Queen of Cult

Collider: 15 Movies that Have Very, Very, Very Very, Very, Long Titles

The Golden Turkey Album: The Best Songs from the Worst Movies

Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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Three naive young women looking for work. One bitter old crone desperate for eternal life. And one mad scientist creating human/animal hybrids in the basement. Mix these ingredients together and you get a MONSTROSITY (1963) in more ways than one! Will Anita, Bea, and Nina (pronounced NINE-uh) escape this house of horrors? Join John, Andy, and Producer Brad as they venture into the first zombie movie to give a cat top billing on its poster.

SHOW NOTES:

Online obit for Erika Brunson (Peters)

Sue Dwiggins Variety Obituary

Wayne Keyser's short documentary on Ken Strickfaden.

Kickstarter campaign for a 4K restoration of Monstrosity.

The Atomic Brain musical

Cinema Cats - celebrating cats in movies and television.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 wiki entry for The Atomic Brain (aka Monstrosity)

Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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What was the scariest part of living in the 1960s? We'd like to think it was all the zombies, but other little factors like massive societal transformation and the threat of atomic annihilation might be contenders too! Like all good horror monsters, zombies work best when they're exploiting the fears and anxieties of viewers. As the Zombie Strains team ventures into a new decade of zombie film, John and Andy take a special side trek to find out what real-life terrors 1960s zombie films were drawing on, reacting to, critiquing, and amplifying.

Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

www.pond5.com

Contact:

zombiestrainspodcast@gmail.com

www.zombiestrainspodcast.com

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