Lack of good storyline.

How sad is this?

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

In the 1960s and 70s, Ted Mikels made a lot of cheap films. Some of his early ones weren't bad at all (such as "Black Klansman") but most were rather schlocky. However, in recent years, Mikels has stayed active--producing even lower quality films (yes, this IS possible). And when I talk about lower quality, I am not exaggerating. Films such as "Cauldron: Baptism of Blood" and "Apartheid Slave-Women's Justice" honestly look as if some teenagers decided to make a film using home video equipment and posted the results on YouTube. This is exactly the sort of film to expect from "Mark of the Astro-Zombies"--a film with such low production values that it is WORSE than an Ed Wood flick!!What's so bad about "Mark of the Astro-Zombies"? Everything. The actors are all non-professionals, his 'monsters' are laughable and sport cheap rubber masks (I especially had to laugh at the lizard people!!!), there appears to be no script, much of the film is missing and cheap messages scroll at the bottom of the screen to fill in the gaps and the entire production seems to have cost Mikels, perhaps, $89.99. Apart from a few trick machetes, the masks and LOTS of fake blood and some VERY cheap CG, I have no idea what Mikels else could have spent any money on--especially since he already seemed to have the home video cameras from his previous direct-to-video and DVD releases. The overall production is at least as bad as recent films like "Birdemic", "Troll 2" and "The Room"...no, I actually think "The Room" is better! However, deciding whether any of these are worse than "Mark of the Astro-Zombies" is like deciding which is worse--Ebola, the Black Plague or Typhoid!!! A truly horrible film that would have made the IMDb Bottom 100 list had it received wider distribution.

I like bad movies. I really do.But some bad movies at least go through the motions of trying to be good. For instance, Steckler's Incredibly Strange Creatures, where actual sets were constructed and dance numbers were even choreographed - albeit poorly - indicated a genuine attempt to try to make an enjoyable movie. Heck, even Mikel's original Astro-Zombies showed some level of "pre-production" planning. None of it went towards a script rewrite though.But, Mark of the Astro-Zombies in a contrived mess shot on videotape for crying out loud. And by that I mean a video camera that you could drive down to Circuit City and buy.The "Making of" featurette (excuse me, I had to chuckle there for a second) is more entertaining than the feature itself, generally because it allows the viewer to see that the movie was a joke to the cast and crew, but the joke was on us.Steer clear all - find yourself a cold beer and a Troma flick. You'll be glad you did.

If this film didn't have some kind of self-conscious humor to it, it would be pretty much worthless. The production values are equivalent to MILF-hunter or a school bus safety video. But there is no exploitation really (not even on a level with the bus video). The only thing that really gave me a laugh was when the zombies were on the loose in the mall. It was nice to see Satana up there on the big screen again after all these years (but then again, I wasn't around for the first time, so why not just rent another classic Satana flick and leave this one behind?). I have the feeling this one kept everyone busy, but not much else.

I have always been a fan of old classic movies and even the grade B horror and science fiction films. I have grown tired of modern action films with one explosion after another. The digitally created creatures, climbing walls and slithering across ceilings have left me yearning for a simpler time of well developed characters being chased by men in monster suits. The most frightening movie monsters are usually kept in the shadows and developed in the viewer's imagination.I just finished watching Mark of the Astro-Zombies and it is an excellent film. The camera angles and editing were wonderful. The story moved along at a great pace with cuts between scenes of actors talking and scenes of blood crazed Astro-zombies hacking everyone in sight.Brinke Stevens gave a wonderful performance as Cindy Natale. Her pseudo-documentary portrayal of a newswoman out for a story worked very well in the film. And, she looks totally HOT in her short skirt. Tura Satana returned to battle Astro-Zombies and match wits with Dr. DeMarco. She was excellent in her scenes. Her argument with Dr. DeMarco was brilliant. She provided an excellent death scene for Ted V. Mikels in a cameo role.Robert Taylor as the talking head of Dr. DeMarco did the late John Carradine (Dr. DeMarco from Astro-Zombies in 1967) a wonderful justice. I think Mr. Carradine would have enjoyed watching that scene. Robert's lines were witty and clever and spoken like a true Shakespearian actor. The lovely Nina Tepes treats the viewers to a lovely and tasteful nude scene (back side nudity).The music and digital effects really gave the movie extra polish. The digital skulls and flying saucer were truly impressive. Jay Gowey's zombie masks and especially the head of Dr. DeMarco photographed very well. There were no actor's mouths visible with these Astro-Zombie masks. His fast and high quality work really came through for this film.Don't miss this movie.Bravo Ted!!Dennis