Having been fired by the space agency, a disgruntled scientist creates superhuman monsters from the body parts of murder victims. The creatures eventually escape and go on a killing spree, attracting the attention of both an international spy ring and the CIA.
Mikels said he started writing it when he made his first film, Strike Me Deadly.[2]
Produced by Ram Ltd. and Ted V. Mikels Film Production, The Astro-Zombies was filmed on a low budget of $37,000, with $3,000 of the budget used to pay Carradine.[1][3] The film would be Mikels' last collaboration with Wayne M. Rogers (of later M*A*S*H fame), who also co-wrote and co-produced the film.[1][4][5] Scenes were shot at the residence of Peter Falk, a friend of Rogers that was to be featured in a cameo that Mikels cut because of being "too funny".[6]
Mikels remembers it as "a very easy shoot. I shot half of it myself because I only had money for a crew for two weeks, so I spent two weeks shooting all the stuff around town, all the chases and all that".[2]
The score was written by Nico Karaski, cinematography was handled by Robert Maxwell and editing by Art Names.[1]
Release and reception
The Astro-Zombies was released in May 1968, at a runtime of 94 minutes.[1]
Variety wrote: "There's almost nothing good to say for this horror scifier ... The scifi aspects don't enthrall and the thrill aspects don't shock".[7] Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film the lowest possible rating of "Bomb", calling it "yet another nominee for worst picture of all time".[8] On his website Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings, Dave Sindelar called the film "wretched", criticizing the film's messy plot and "talky/dull" scenes.[9]TV Guide called the film "one of the all-time worst sci-fi pictures".[10]
In a retrospective review, David Cornelius of eFilmCritic.com gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, calling it the worst film ever made, and criticized the film's acting, its "painful-to-the-eyes production values", and the film's absence of reason.[11]
Sequels
Nearly 40 years after the film's release, Mikels would direct three low-budget sequels starting with 2004's Mark of the Astro-Zombies, 2010's Astro-Zombies M3: Cloned, and 2012's Astro-Zombies M4: Invaders from Cyberspace. Tura Satana would return for the second and third films prior to her death in 2011.
