THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES!!?

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? Movie Review

Jerry (Ray Dennis Steckler, who also produced and directed the film) is hypnotized by a gypsy and turned into a killer who can't remember his actions--God, you have to love these simple plots. Digging deeper (but not much), we find that both gypsy Estrella (Brett O'Hara) and her sister, stripper Carmelita (Erina Enyo), have the hypnotic skills, and Estrella has a history of not only putting fellas under her spell, but also of throwing acid on them to disfigure their faces, and keeping them enslaved--these are the "zombies" and "creatures" mentioned in the excessively long title that honestly is the only reason I decided to give this movie a shot, the curiosity of seeing the length of the title under the picture up there being too much to resist, so don't expect to see anything bordering on the traditional zombie or creature we are all used to, and, in fact, all love.

"Now look into my eyes"

This oddly-named 1964 flick is likely even more bizarre than you are picturing. It hailed itself as "The First Monster Musical", but managed to underwhelm in both the musical sense and the monster sense. 

Or maybe don't see it?

It's obvious I'm a fan of horror, but, if done well, I am also a fan of musicals--this was not done well. The musical element seems to exist only to add to the run time--worse, they sound bad, the dancing is dreadful, and there are far too many numbers. 

One of many

In fact, they take up most of the first 45 minutes, when we finally see Jerry turn, complete with a painstakingly long hypnotism sequence and, eventually, Jerry's hilarious psycho killer face. 

They likely laughed as they died

The acting is atrocious from start to end, the story is uninteresting, the dialogue is mind-numbing, and there is little in terms of consistency. Based strictly on these merits, this movie has nothing whatsoever going for it--it has been put on many lists of worst movies ever made, but I'm not going to go anywhere near that. Granted, it's still not a great movie, but there is plenty happening to keep you glued. I've said it before and I'll say it again--I'm a sucker for carnival and amusement park settings, and a good bit of this movie takes place at the now-defunct The Pike in Long Beach, California. These shots are fantastic, and make the viewer long for just one day at the park.

Uncrowded beaches existed then?

I want to ride this one!

Maybe not this one

Correction: Definitely not this one

Dominguez on the Sandia Peak Tramway

The movie is filled with fascinating, unsettling images and sounds, with the next scene seemingly having little to do with the one before it, making the entire experience feel like a dream at five in the morning after having one too many drinks or joints. The end is as strange, with a very drawn-out chase scene that sees the pursuer almost not even trying to catch the fleeing Jerry as both struggle with the terrain much more than either should. This leads to a rather unsatisfying ending. This movie (the title of which I refuse to type again) is a hard one to rate--it's far too bad to garner any decent score, but its surreal presentation is such that I can't help but recommend watching it at least once. 

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 4

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? Movie Trailer