Zombie Strains

We've been wondering when the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD knockoffs would arrive. Well, they're officially here, starting with CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS! This movie hides its twenty minutes of solid Romero-style zombie action behind an hour of bizarre drama involving a team of actors, their sadistic director, and lot of black magic mumbo-jumbo. John, Andy, and Producer Brad explore a cult classic that makes them wonder if they should've listened to their parents and stayed far away.

SHOW NOTES:

US Theatrical Release: 1972

AFI|Catalog - Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things

Bob Clark, 67, director

Canuxploitation Interview: Bob Clark

BOB CLARK Explains Why CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS | RUE MORGUE ARCHIVES

Carl Fischer The Bass Grimoire | Guitar Center

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

Additional music by Elarasound.

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Additional voice work by Russell Bentley.

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It's probably a bad idea to try and resurrect somebody named Baron Blood, right? Especially in a medieval castle with a torture dungeon, an iron maiden, and lots of spikes that could conveniently be used for impalings. Nonetheless, that's exactly what our bold (or foolish) heroes do in this strangely compelling low-budget Italian zombie film directed by the legendary Mario Bava. Will John, Andy, and Producer Brad survive this run-in with an off-brand Dracula and his dungeon full of zombies?

SHOW NOTES:

US Theatrical Release Date: October 27, 1972

Italian Theatrical Release Date: February 25, 1972

The 30 best classic horror movies of all time

Variety The 100 Best Horror Movies of All Time

Joseph Cotten, 88, Is Dead; Actor on Stage and in Films - The New York Times

Quiet Quality: The Life and Films of Joseph Cotten - Best Movies by Farr

The Siberian Hell Sounds - Skeptoid

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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Scarce ammunition, locked doors, a sewer level, and of course, loads of disgusting bio-mutant zombies: everything that scared you when you first ventured into Spencer Mansion on your 90s-era Playstation is here in Zach Cregger's take on RESIDENT EVIL (2026). So does the much-lauded director of WEAPONS and BARBARIAN successfully evoke the famous horror video game series without stumbling into the usual video game-adaptation pitfalls? And amid all the goo and gunfire, does Resident Evil add anything significant to the family tree of zombie cinema?

Show Notes:

US Theatrical Release Date: September, 2026

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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Just because they can't see you doesn't mean they can't catch you and tear you apart! John, Andy, and Producer Brad journey across the Atlantic to Spain in the waning days of the Franco regime, where they confront a Euro-horror cult classic that combines lurid exploitation with sharp social commentary. Expect spooky castles, zombie Templars, and a psychedelic confrontation with the undead in a mannequin factory!

Show Notes:

US Theatrical Release Date: February, 1973

TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD film review - Amando De Ossorio Knights Templar Spanish horror — Schlockmania

Legend of the Zombie Crusaders

Amando de Ossorio.O último templario.Parte 1

Amando de Ossorio.O último templario.Parte 2

Yeah, You Know Giallo — But There’s Another European Horror Movement You're Missing Out On

HORROR EUROPA — Mark Gatiss Explores Europe’s Darkest Cinema (2012)

Revenge From Planet Ape

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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Director Al Adamson's 1965 heist film, PSYCHO A-GO-GO flopped. So in 1969, he hired John Carradine to play a mad scientist, shot new scenes, and retitled it THE FIEND WITH THE ELECTRONIC BRAIN. That, too, flopped. Adamson hired Tommy Kirk in 1971 and shot more new scenes and released it with another new title, BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR. Will John, Andy, and Producer Brad be able to keep all this mayhem straight? And will they find an actual zombie movie at the bottom of this genre jumble?

Show Notes:

US Release Date: 1971

Dendle, Peter. THE ZOMBIE MOVIE ENCYCLOPEDIA

Kay, Glenn. ZOMBIE MOVIES: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

Al Adamson Obituary

HORROR DIRECTOR SLAIN, ENTOMBED BENEATH HIS TUB – Deseret News

The Murder Of Director Al Adamson – Original Cinemaniac

The Old Oregon Trail (1928) A Silent Film Review

Victor Adamson/Denver Dixon

ABOUT TOM | tommix

BOOKS OF THE TIMES: Superman at 50!

Shades of Gray: The Life and Death of the Oft-overlooked Master - The Comics Journal

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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One giant high-rise in downtown Seoul. Hundreds of people going about their everyday lives inside. Add one mad scientist with a vision for a fungus zombie hivemind apocalypse, and you have the recipe for a wild zombie action film! Director Yeon Sang-ho has already given us two modern zombie classics ("Train to Busan" and "Peninsula") but he's not done with us yet. John and Andy take a quick detour to modern-day South Korea to catch the latest from one of zombie cinema's rising stars.

Show Notes:

Colony Trailer

Colony IMDB

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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Get ready for the grindhouse! In this zombie double feature, the Zombie Strains team faces down two very different sides of zombie cinema. First up is the ultraviolent schlockfest I DRINK YOUR BLOOD, followed by the curiously retro I EAT YOUR SKIN. One of these is our first glimpse of 70s grindhouse, and the other might be the last dying groan of the traditional voodoo zombie. Which path will John, Andy, and Producer Brad choose?

Show Notes:

AFI|Catalog - I Drink Your Blood

Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury Papers, 1930-2003

Lynn Lowry Interview

Rabies in the United States: Protecting Public Health | Rabies | CDC

AFI|Catalog - I Eat Your Skin

Katherine Dunham dancer Vanoye Aikens passes - New York Amsterdam News

A Woman Ahead of Her Time: Katherine Dunham and Afro-Caribbean Dance

Katherine Dunham | Queen Mother Of Black Dance (Biography)

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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Crime waves... Watergate... disco... 70s zombies don't rise from the dead in a vacuum! The 70s was the decade that horror broke into the mainstream. So what lurking fears of the 1970s were exploited and amplified by zombie cinema? John and Andy take a little break from the regular lineup of zombie movies to talk through what exactly was so scary about the groovy 70s.

Show Notes:

Us Theatrical Release Date:

The Cinema of Solitude by Charles Ramírez Berg

Shock Value by Jason Zinoman

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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The end of the world was just the beginning of Robert Neville's problems. Sure, he's set up in a swanky post-apocalyptic penthouse suite, but he's cursed to spend his days and nights battling a Luddite cult of zombie hippies! John, Andy, and Producer Brad brave their first big-budget Hollywood zombie epic of the 1970s. Will this action blockbuster, another adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, contribute as much to zombie cinema as its 1964 predecessor did?

Show Notes:

Us Theatrical Release Date: August 1, 1971

The Friends fountain

Kinney National Company | Logo Timeline Wiki | Fandom

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

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What happens when zombie horror gets put on a collision course with... the early 20th century temperance movement? Add a toucan, a snake dancer, acid trips, and Boris Karloff (and did we mention all the snakes?), and you have SNAKE PEOPLE. John, Andy, and Producer Brad return to the voodoo roots of zombie cinema in a film that combines decades-old horror cliches with the salacious sentiments of 1970s exploitation films.

Show Notes:

US Theatrical Release: March, 1971

Zombie Strains Merch

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Theme music composed by Neil Dube.

www.pond5.com

Contact:

[email protected]

www.zombiestrainspodcast.com

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Andy's Substack "Fortress of Regret"

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