Vampire Zombies…from Space!: if you think that title tries hard to impress the audience, wait ’til you see the movie!

Vampire Zombies…from Space! aims to be a pastiche of black-and-white creature features of the 1950s. Director Michael Stasko (co-writting with Alex Forman) nails the visual attributes of this era, yet always remembers that he’s making a cornball comedy. The best jokes in Stasko’s film are the gags that don’t necessarily satirize the genre or the period, but embrace the atmosphere of these classics; including calling attention to the mood lighting or having the cast exaggerate specific line deliveries or reactions. The film also has the power to subverting the expectations of a joke. For instance, we expect someone to be beamed up into a UFO but, instead, they get blown up real good into gory smithereens. The special effects artists worked overtime for Vampire Zombies…from Space! and it pays off in spades.

In a disappointing turn of events though, the filmmakers cash in on an onslaught of repetitive gross-out humour and tiring innuendos – cheapening the quality of this homage in the worst way.

Vampire Zombies…from Space! screens at Toronto’s Canadian Film Festival on Friday, March 28 at 9:15 pm at Scotiabank Theatre.

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