The Astro-zombies

No one gets decapitated, promise

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing the 1969 exploitation film, The Astro-Zombies by Ted V. Mikels. First, I will give you a taste of what it's about....

As you can see, the film is based around what the other characters term the "quasiman" who functions as a test pilot for microwave transmissions from the State (i.e. doctors, NASA, engineers, psychologists, etc) with the intention of "going wireless" and eliminating massive amounts of bulky technology for space missions. Originally the idea was for ground control to be able to talk to the astronaut in space without having to invest a shitload of money in communications equipment. You can derive just from the trailer that the the quasiman astro-zombie is no astronaut. Rogue scientist Dr. Demarco (John Carradine, father of David Carradine) has defected from the government and is pursuing human experimentation on his own time with his trusty hunch-backed, body-stealing sidekick. Demarco wishes to harness the power of the greatest intellects in the world by harvesting brains and combining them all into one "quasiman" to perpetuate smart stuff for mankind. Of course, all his well-intentioned plans are foiled when his quasiman somehow runs away from Demarco's lab and is out committing home invasions and raping and murdering female victims. Throughout the film we see our "alien" murderer kill two women and attack another, one by hammer in her garage, another by knife in her laboratory, and another he attempts to strangle in her bedroom. Quasiman is also seen wielding a gun and a machete (yes, a machete) later on in the film rather than using any sort of cool alien powers. Throughout the whole film, bumbling and extremely sexist men in suits follow the trail of the murders to figure out who is committing them. On the other end of the spectrum, impressively devious and always semi-clothed Satana (Tura Satana) is running an underground ring of evil (for what, we don't really know) constantly trying to catch up with the quasiman and use him for her own underground evil stuff.

The film takes weird twists and plot diversions and begins to take on the feel of a Frankenstein rip-off (rogue scientists, hunch-backed assistants, mute rampaging creatures) but, unlike Frankenstein, never really allows us to develop a soft spot for our monster the astro-zombie.

A number of strange motifs struck me while watching this film (that's really not about zombies). To begin, our astro-zombie has NO POWERS whatsoever, except possibly the power of premeditated murder. I was expecting a super (or supra?) human being/reanimated body to at least have super human strength or teleportation, or mind reading or ANYTHING, but instead he's just a dude in a leather jacket, jeans, and a crazy alien mask who attacks with a weird, sci-fi ray-gun noise. Presumably, astro zombie guy has the power of thought transmission, but he obviously never uses it on his victims because he prefers to use force. Along the same vein of the lack of superpowers, it was noticeable that this alien quasi zombie used everyday objects to overpower his victims. I had to do some research on the cultural moment of 1968-1969 to figure out why an astro zombie would use weapons to kill people and discovered that the Zodiac killer begins his reign of terror in California in addition to the mass murders of the Manson "family" which seem to have had some influence on this character.

Shortly after the film began, I started to wonder where the "astro" part was going to weave in. After a brief mention of the purpose of the quasiman is explained early in the film, it was apparent that the late 60s space race between the Soviet Union and the United States was manifesting itself in this B-movie. A brief 1969 space race timeline:


        Jan. 5: The Soviet Union launches Venera 5 towards Venus (lands on Venus May 16)

Jan. 14: The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 4

Jan. 15: The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5

Jan. 20: Richard Nixon becomes president of the United States

May 22: Apollo 10 is launched into space

Jul. 16: Apollo 11 is launched

Jul. 20: Apollo 11 lands on the moon. 500 million people world-wide watch.

July 24: Apollo 11 astronauts return to earth. 

Nov. 14: NASA launches Apollo 12

Obviously Hollywood had space on their minds and in their scripts. These strange elements combined into one astro-zombie-quasiman reflect a very real cultural moment in the United States. Although I wouldn't go far enough to say that this film is offering any groundbreaking insight into the minds and hearts of the American public, I would definitely argue that the presence of any sort of "zombie" is used as an archetype to embody "the other." This is a prevalent theme in not only literature, but in music, film, and all other forms of media. This quasiman seems to embody an amalgamation of the very real fear of home invasions (particularly in southern California), the unknown fears of government experimentation, and various speculations about space and the possibility of thought transference through new technological breakthroughs (such as microwaves) in 1968-69. 

Aside from the heavy cultural references in this film, there is, as I mentioned, a very campy, but always appealing science fiction element that comes with the reanimation of necrotic flesh. Dr. Demarco represents a Dr. Frankenstein, experimenting for the greater good of humankind. His sidekick who is hilariously given the appearance of a shifty Mexican man (Mexican because he is wearing a striped poncho, dons a huge bushy mustache, and this all takes place in southern California) meets Quasimodo (another quasiman!) meets Igor. He even comes complete with a bulging eye that is later replicated by Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein (1974). 

In the end, this movie scratches a campy sci-fi itch and includes plenty of scantly clad women in most of the scenes. If nothing else, you should watch this movie for its SWEET toy robot montages at the beginning and end of the film. 

Blam!