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The Man from Planet X (1951) is the first zombie film to center on an alien invasion. Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), and Invisible Invaders (1959) would soon follow. It is also the first zombie film set in Scotland, though it was filmed in Los Angeles. Despite it’s low budget, it has great style and a thought provoking-ending.
S2:E26- January 7, 2026
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Haints. Perishables. The Walking Dead. Weirdies. These are all terms for zombies in movies of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. The Mad Ghoul (1943) is the first film to call them ghouls. The Mad Ghoul also has great makeup by Jack Pierce, reminiscent of The Mummy.
S2:E25- December 17, 2025
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The Last Man on Earth is the first adaption of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel, I Am Legend. Vincent Price stars as Dr. Robert Morgan, the last man on earth. A mysterious plague has killed everyone else, turning them into the undead, called vampires in the film. But they look and behave like zombies. Slow and lumbering. In a zombie film first, they surround Morgan’s home, trying to break in and kill him.
S2:E24- December 10, 2025
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War of the Zombies is the first Italian zombie film. Starring John Drew Barrymore as the evil priest Aderbal who raises an army of dead Roman soldiers. This is the first zombie film to realize the promised fear of an undead army that was first proposed back in Revolt of the Zombies (1936). This peplum/zombie mashup has mystical rites, sorcerous powers, and a giant battle between a zombie army and Roman centurions.
S2:E23- December 3, 2025
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The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies claims to be the first monster musical, but that’s not true. Both Scared Stiff (1953) and The Dead One (1961) have similar musical numbers. But The Incredibly Strange Creatures is only the second zombie film to focus on youth culture, after Teenage Zombies (1959). Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler, TISCWSLABMUZ is a low budget movie influenced by Psycho with mysticism, mesmerism, and a touch of exploitation.
S2:E22- November 26, 2025
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Monstrosity was released in 1963, but filmed in 1958. It’s a throwback to the mad scientist toiling away in the basement films of earlier decades. Marjorie Eaton (Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back) returns to Zombie Strains with a great performance as a bitter old crone.
S2:E21- November 19, 2025
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John and Andy explore the historical context of the 1960s and discuss what’s brewing in this tumultuous decade and what effect this will have on zombie cinema.
S2:20- November 12, 2025
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With LA CABEZA VIVIENTE (1963), aka THE LIVING HEAD, director Chano Urueta makes his second appearance on ZOMBIE STRAINS, after 1953’s THE REVIVED MONSTER. But this time, instead of a Frankenstein inspired story, we get an Aztec curse with a mummy!
S2:E19- November 5, 2025
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CARNIVAL OF SOULS is a surprise to the ZOMBIE STRAINS’ team. It’s that rare ultra-low budget movie that succeeds in it’s artistic aspirations. And it’s genuinely creepy. Three thumbs up!
S2:E18- October 29, 2025
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TALES OF TERROR is the first appearance of a Roger Corman film on ZOMBIE STRAINS. And with Corman come the A-Listers. Vincent Price. Peter Lorre. Basil Rathbone. It was a blast to watch, but are there zombies? John and Andy take investigate and present their findings.
S2:E17- October 22, 2025
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Santo vs the Zombies is a fun watch. It’s definitely one of the more outright fun films recently watched on Zombie Strains. And while the zombies don’t break any new ground, they do have full-on wrestling fights with Santo!
S2:E16- October 15, 2025
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The Curse of the Doll People is the second zombie film from Mexico, after The Revived Monster. The plot is similar to The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake - explorers are cursed after stealing an idol from a Haitian religious site. What’s new are the freaky dolls. Are they zombies, too? Or just puppets of the zombie master? John and Andy break it down.
S2:E15- Occtober 8, 2025
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Zombie Strains returns to England for the film Doctor Blood’s Coffin. Directed by Sidney J. Furie, it’s a shocking leap forward in quality over the last few low budget zombie films. In addition to a new level of gore, Doctor Blood’s Coffin features the first homicidal zombie.
S2:E14- October 1, 2025
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Everybody's talking about Weapons, an unsettling 2025 horror film about a community in shock after a classroom of grade-school children vanishes overnight. Always on the hunt for modern films with connections to their favorite horror genre, John and Andy take a road trip to American suburbia to investigate for themselves. Don't tell Producer Brad that they recorded this without him. Please note that this is a spoiler-heavy discussion of Weapons.
S2:E413- September 27, 2025
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Finally! The first zombie film in color on Zombie Strains! The Dead One is a low-budget regional horror movie filmed in New Orleans. The plot is eerily reminiscent of the 1939 zombie film The Devil’s Daughter. While the plot is recycled, the zombie is new. It’s a realistic cadaverous corpse, unlike previous zombie films that use minimal make-up or vacant stares to indicate zombies.
S2:E12- September 24, 2025
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The Zombie Strains crew recover from watching Plan 9 from Outer Space by watching Teenage Zombies, which, incredibly, is a movie worse than Plan 9. But like all zombie films from this era, Teenage Zombies provides us with a few interesting zombie cinema firsts.
S2E11- September 17, 2025
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Plan 9 from Outer Space is considered one of the worst movies of all time. But how does it rate as a zombie film? It’s the second consecutive film on Zombie Strains that shows aliens using human corpses as weapons.
S2:E10- September 10, 2025
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Invisible Invaders is another 50s zombie film with an alien invasion. These aliens, are, well, invisible but use human corpses to wreak havoc on the world.
S1:E9- September 3, 2025
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The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake is the second zombie movie to feature a curse. Unlike the cursed zombies from Zombies of Mora Tau, these zombies seek immortality and vengeance on anyone who stands in their way.
S1:E8- September 27, 2025
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John and Andy watch Womaneater, a 1958 zombie film that takes a step back from the recent zombie film developments. No zombie horde. No gnarly kills. Just a mad scientist trying to find the elixir for immortality.
S2:E7- August 20, 2025
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Zombies of Mora Tau is the first zombie movie to feature zombies created by a curse. John and Andy are delighted find another zombie first - it’s the first film that the heroes arm themselves with proven zombie weapons!
S2:E6- August 13, 2025
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Bela Lugosi is back on Zombie Strains with his fifth zombie movie, Voodoo Island. But this time, instead of portraying a zombie master, he is a professional skeptic hired to lead an expedition to Voodoo Island.
S2:E5- August 6, 2025
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Creature with the Atom Brain is your basic 1950s B-movie. But it has some interesting firsts for the zombie genre. It’s the first zombie film with squib shots, violent deaths, and a true zombie horde that seems unstoppable. It’s also the first zombie film to bring in the military in an attempt to confine the zombie menace.
S2:E4- July 30, 2025
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El Monstruo Resucitado, known in the US as The Revived Monster, is the first Mexican film on Zombie Strains. It combines many elements of classic horror films like Frankenstein, Beauty and the Beast, and The Phantom of the Opera, but finds it’s own unique voice.
S2:E3- July 23, 2025
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Scared Stiff is a remake of the 1941 zombie flick, The Ghost Breakers. This version trades Bob Hope and Willie Best for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Carmen Miranda joins the fun as a musical interlude.
S2:E2- July 16, 2025
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Season 2 of Zombie Strains kicks off with the teams first movie serial, 1952's Zombies of the Stratosphere. The “zombies” in this film are really Martians, including Leonard Nimoy in one of his first roles.
S2:E1- July 9, 2025
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John and Andy have been focused on the zombies of the 1930s and 40s, but they have kept an eye on current events. In this episode, they discuss 28 Days Later and season 2 of The Last of Us.
S1:E26- July 2, 2025
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History geeks John and Andy anticipate the themes for season 2 of Zombie Strains. Will the Red Scare, Rock ‘n Roll, and the emergence of teenage culture infect the zombie movies of the 1950s? What other anxieties are in the air that become important? Listen in as John and Andy break it all down.
S1:E25 - June 25, 2025
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Zombie Strains is on a break and will be back in a few short weeks. Until then, enjoy this episode of Producer Brad’s other show, Multiplex Overthruster, where hosts Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Paul Alvardo-Dykstra relive the summer movies of the 80s. Here’s the Multiplex episode on Poltergeist.
S1:E24 - June 18, 2025