I Was a Teenage Zombie

This movie smells worse than a rotting corpse. The film maker wasn't interested in little things like continuity, synchronized dialogue, or comprehensible shot angles. I'm undecided on whether to put this in the "it's so bad it's good" category because it may just be too horrible. Watch it and decide for yourselves.

Well, I've seen TONS of bad reviews for this movie... for no apparent reason. Did people expect a serious movie? On the old VHS copy of this tape I have, it even says on the back of the box "this is a movie for people who like some laughs with their gore." And it certainly delivers the laughs and is just an overall good time. It's not REALLY a horror movie, persé, but it's definitely worth checking out and is pretty easy to find at old mom-and-pop shops across the country.

The minute this movie starts with a long shot of a lake and the hilariously bad rockabilly/swingin' song "I Was a Teenage Zombie" (by the Fleshtones -- I am so lucky to have this song on MP3), you know you're in for a treat. The characters are absolutely priceless: We have a guy that looks like Lars Ulrich (who gets his tongue ripped off, I believe). Then, the main character, who looks like Doogie Howser and is basically a huge geek. Then, there is a Mexican pimp selling some bad weed, and he is just amazing. In one scene, he rips a guy's hilarious and shocking Playdough face off and says, "Yeah, I'm the weedman! I got some WEED!" I was rolling on the floor laughing.

A good b-movie's weight can be measured in how many scenes you will want to show to your friends, and this film certainly delivers. Whether it's the hilarious rape scene (the Mexican zombie pimp is raping a girl and drooling and then breaks her legs in half or something), the decapitated head basketball scene, or the hilarious Troma reference (LLOYD KAUFMAN JUST FELL INTO A CONTAINER OF TOXIC WASTE!). However, the most amazing part of the movie has to be in the first half-hour of the film: One of the characters changes into a baseball uniform JUST to hit another character in the head with a baseball bat and then changes back in the next shot. It's all very humorous.

I'm guessing the people who gave this a bad rating were expecting a Fulci classic or something. All in all, it's definitely a good time, up there with Monster High and Rock N Roll Nightmare as the most amazingly underrated and wonderful B-Movies of all time. See it.

Maybe it was because I was a teenager when I rented it, but, I don't think this flick is all that bad. The basic element is dumb, naturally: some sort of toxic, polluted marijuana turns a dealer and a teen into zombies who must, for some reason, battle each other. But, there are some okay moments. The guy who gets his face torn off and then has his face rubbed in... well, his face. And, the odd rape scene on the car hood, with our resident dealer zombie, who tears off her legs, apparently to the victim's delight, is just plain odd enough to make you laugh inquisitively.

Six high school buddies accidentally kill a drug pusher and dump his body in toxic waters. When the pusher returns as a zombie and goes on a killing spree, their only recourse is to dump the body of one of their own recently dead, and have him return as a "good" zombie to face off with the "bad" one.

If this film wasn't inspired by "The Toxic Avenger", I'd be very surprised. The toxic waste theme, the low budget production, the offbeat sense of humor. It seems like a Troma film with some touches of John Hughes (with a nerd hanging out with cooler kids).

If you don't like horror-comedy of the no-budget variety, you won't like this. But if you do, you'll love it! This is just an absolutely wonderful example of what could be done in the 1980s if you had the right minds... somehow we seemed to lose that charm when the decade ended.

If you are a member of the "It's so bad its good" crowd you are going to love this movie..We have it all here friends...Men who are obviousley in their late 20's trying to play high school students and a vietnam war veteran drug dealer who looks like an 18 year old freddy mercury! Yep it's cue card heaven..Theres a guy that looks like a fat rick nelson from cheap trick (even wears a cap)...there is a henry winkler (fonzie) character...I could go on but what's the use..Check the bottom shelf of your local video store's horror section..dust this thing off and take it home you're sure to find it giggle inducing.