Aliens Love The Secret Ingredient In Lotus Cat Food: Love (Oh, And Human Flesh)

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:44:59 PDT

Horror trashmeister Ted V. Mikels scored with Corpse Grinders, about people who make cat food out of people. But how to up the ante in Corpse Grinders 2? Try aliens who crave cat food made out of people.

The Solar-Powered Astro Zombie Turned Out to Be a Bad Idea

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:24:23 PDT

In this terrific little moment from Ted V. Mikels' classic everythingsploitation movie Astro Zombies, we get so much annum 1968 greatness that it's hard to encompass it all. A mad scientist has created a remote-controlled, solar-powered "astro zombie" in strange and boring detail (yes, there is a five-minute scene of unscrewing the cover on a metal box), and a Mexican mobster (the luscious lady in this clip) wants to know more. She smokes languidly while listening to the professor extol his creature's virtues on a reel-to-reel. Then we randomly cut to a scene where we meet the astro zombie. And there is violence! Stabbing! Mexican-wrestler-looking dude! What the hell! Where am I!

One of the true masters of the psychedelic scifi horror nudie genre, director Mikels is also brilliant at maintaining B-movie pacing. For long, 10-minute stretches, nothing will happen. There's no soundtrack, minimal dialog, and misplaced realism in terms of how long it ACTUALLY takes to set up your mad scientist lab to reanimate a dead guy and give him ultra-whatever. Then, suddenly: Stabbing! Screaming! Dismemberment! Lacy bras! John Carradine! Cannibalism! Angry cats! Really, it's true. It's all or nothing in this flick. Once you've enjoyed Astro Zombies, I highly recommend you also try another Mikels classic: The Corpse Grinders. Best name ever.

Astro Zombies [Amazon]

io9: ted v. mikels

Aliens Love The Secret Ingredient In Lotus Cat Food: Love (Oh, And Human Flesh)

The Solar-Powered Astro Zombie Turned Out to Be a Bad Idea