By Simon Thompson
Director/ co-writer Michael Stasko’s Vampire Zombies … From Space ! is a parody of 1950s B-movies (mainly of the trashy Ed Wood variety) with a handful of jokes that wear out their welcome pretty quickly. This is a shame because on paper Stasko’s movie has a concept, which, when executed correctly (for example Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks, Bubba Ho-Tep or the video game Destroy All Humans), can be really funny. The problem that Vampire Zombies… From Space ! has is what it’s parodying is far too obvious – to the point of being redundant.
The movie takes place in 1957, in Marlow, a fictional small American town, which is under attack from a group of space vampires led by Dracula (Craig Gloster). So it’s up to a group of misfits including a farmer’s daughter (Jessica Antovski) whose father everyone in the town believes to be behind Dracula’s actions, a 1950s greaser (Oliver Georgiou), an alcoholic police chief (Andrew Bee), and a burnt out police detective (Rashaun Baldeo) to stop Dracula and his horde of space vampires.
The acting, all things considered, is pretty solid across the board, the cast know exactly what type of movie they are in and look like they are genuinely having fun mocking the over the top nature of 50s B movie acting. Craig Gostler does a top notch Bela Lugosi Dracula impression, Oliver Georgiou’s Elvis/James Dean – style greaser character is the best observed parody, and Jessica Antovski does a dependable enough job in the straight role as the farmer’s daughter.
In terms of humour and tone, Michael Stasko, co-writers Alex Forman, and Jakob Skrzypa’s script takes its cues from a wide variety of sources ranging from the notorious oeuvre of Ed Wood, Night Of The Living Dead, Forbidden Planet, The Blob, the output of Troma studios in the 1980s-90s, Monty Python, the spoof films of Mel Brooks, South Park, Tim & Eric, John Waters, Sam Raimi, and Robert Rodriguez.
What makes the trio’s comedic influences work and where Vampire Zombies… From Space ! falls flat in comparison, is that Stasko, Forman, and Skyrzypa’s script practically announces that it’s a piss-take every 5 seconds, making the set up and punchlines for jokes crushingly obvious. It also doesn’t help that this movie features 3 or 4 specific running gags, which, while quite funny the first time, 45 mins or so in when they’ve been done to death began to try my patience.
Credit is due, however, for the movie’s look, with cinematographer Ken Amlin pulling out all the stops to make Vampire Zombies… From Space ! look like a 50s B-movie. Amlin’s black and white cinematography really captures the look and feel of what it’s parodying, which, alongside the use of heavy shadow and close ups and Ian McGregor Smith’s score goes a long way in creating an accurate audio-visual backdrop.
Overall, even some fun cameos from the likes of Lloyd Kaufman, Judith O’Dea, and David Liebe Hart cannot rescue Vampire Zombies … From Space! from being an overdone, derivative, and inconsistent parody that wears thin quickly.
Bloody Flicks 