San Francisco IndieFest 2025 Coverage
Vampire Zombies… From Space! review
Rarely has a title so accurately described a movie.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
Vampire Zombies… From Space!
Directed by Michael Statsko
Written by Jakob Skrzypa, Alex Forman and Michael Statsko
Starring Jessica Antovski, Rashaun Baldeo, Andrew Bee, Craig Gloster, Oliver Georgiou, Lloyd Kaufman and Judith O’Dea
Vampire Zombies… From Space! Review
Vampire Zombies… From Space! aims for, and achieves, a very specific aesthetic. Actually, it’s more than an aesthetic. The film’s 1950s B-movie form is its identity. It looks, feels and, more importantly, exists as a throwback to the sci-fi and horror movies of the drive-in era. When creatures and blobs from outer space chased high school prom queens and the quarterback of the football team around their picturesque small towns. Vampire Zombies… From Space! is clever enough to understand that it can get more laughs out of playing things straight than winking too hard at the world it creates.
That’s not to say that Vampire Zombies… From Space! isn’t having fun with the silliness of the idea. On the contrary, it plays every moment for fun inside of its black and white frames. But the knowing humor and sly observations all fit into that world…and don’t attempt to break the movie’s attempt to put you into a Dracula like trance. Incredibly absurd…in a way that makes sense.
The plot of Vampire Zombies… From Space! is fittingly bonkers given the title of the picture. In fact, that title does a lot of heavy lifting. It reads like a little slice of nonsense…while also accurately setting the tone of, and identifying the threat within, the story itself. You pretty much know what you’re signing up for with a title like Vampire Zombies… From Space!. What is unexpected, however, is how faithfully and effectively the movie delivers on its premise.
The story begins with a family running afoul of Dracula himself. Dracula…and his spaceship. The family matriarch is killed in the opening scene and the story immediately jumps forward a decade. The town has branded the family’s father as a murderer. One of his daughters is quickly dispatched by a zombie. The father himself is abducted by an alien spaceship while looking for her. The credits have barely rolled, and this family has experienced a lot of weird stuff.
Everything is connected. Dracula is up in his space station…sending the ships to earth. His son Dylan has developed a cure for those pesky Christian crosses that vampires hate so much. An unexpected side effect of the cure sees people bitten by vampires come back as zombies. The hat on a hat on a hat approach of Vampire Zombies… From Space! is an endearing one.
Mary (Jessica Antovski) finds herself the last remaining member of her family. Desperate for answers, she turns to the hard drinking Chief of Police Ed Clarke (Andrew Bee) and his new in town sidekick Officer James Wallace (Rashaun Baldeo). Wallace’s arrival in Marlow County comes at a fortuitous time…he’s encountered an alien ship before.
Dracula’s plan involves taking over…the world, I guess? by way of sucking the blood of Marlow County Mayor John Douglas (Mark Lefebvre). Mary finds unexpected help and a possible romantic connection from local greaser Wayne (Oliver Georgiou) …a man looking for revenge on the creatures who killed his friends.
If these character archetypes and plot strands aren’t enough to convince you that Vampire Zombies… From Space! is fully committed to the bit…wait until you see the visual tricks it pulls. We’re talking flying saucers with visible strings, exploding mannequins, fun miniature work…and an incredible moment where a zombie sliced in half by a spaceship carries on a full fight with just the lower half of his body. Throw in a Lloyd Kaufman cameo as a serial public masturbator…and you get a good feel for what Vampire Zombies… From Space! has to offer.
Vampire Zombies… From Space! is funny and its commitment to a specific style is admirable. I’d be lying if I said that it maintained a high interest throughout the entire story…but any lulls are immediately followed by something awesome. It’s like they reverse engineered an Ed Wood movie…but in the same loving way Tim Burton approached the subject in his 1994 biopic. With reverence, love, and respect for what makes creating something so much fun to begin with.
Scare Value
Vampire Zombies… From Space! is a vibes movie. Its commitment to the look and feel of a 50s style B-movie is commendable. The result is a fun movie that doesn’t always sustain its momentum. When it hits, however, it hits hard. Several standout scenes prove the concept worth the credible attempt made here. A perfect Sunday afternoon on the couch movie.
