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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Information Exchange  |  Reader Comments  |  Mark of the Astro-Zombies « previous next »
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Author Topic: Mark of the Astro-Zombies  (Read 25100 times)
Scott Blacksher
Guest
« on: November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM »

I had a blast giving back something to the genre after more than 25 years as a fan of "bad movies".  I portrayed Tura Satana's henchman 'Zokar'.  I played him as a human rottweiler instead of a realistic person.  Malvira's abused attack dog.

A couple of trivia items:

(1)  There are two different 'marks' seen on abductee's necks.  The screengrab Andrew used shows the first design which was supposed to look like criss-crossing spiral galaxies.  Unfortunately when stamped on the necks it looked more like a swastika!  That, combined with the plot about targetting specific eye color, came across too much like 'Space Nazis' so the design was changed to look like an old 45rpm record adaptor (3 snake-like prongs).

(2)  After the first scene of a machete being sharpened on the grindwheel you get to see the arm doing the sharpening ... and it's a gorilla arm!  The only part of the script which didn't make it to the screen was the explanation.  The evil alien leader, Zekith, uses the implanted computer chips in Astro-Zombies to alter their DNA.  Several mutations were supposed to be shown such as a two-headed A-Z and an animal-limbed A-Z.  Since the prop gorilla arm was already made Ted V. Mikels wanted to use it somewhere.  Thus it pops up in the grindwheel footage.
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Steven Millan
Guest
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM »

  I openly agree with that comment,Jeff,since Ted is now shooting sequels to his earlier classics,with whatever little money he has,with "The Doll Squad" being the next classic about to receive the sequel treatment(whenever that time comes).
  Otherwise,this film is a really fun effort,with plenty of gore,cheesy sci-fi FX,and it doesn't hurt seeing both Brinke Stevens and Tura Satana sharing the same exact screen together.
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Jeff Weskamp
Guest
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM »

    Ted V. Michels has now made sequels for 2 of his Sixties drive-in flicks:  Astro-Zombies and Corpse Grinders.  I suppose he'll soon have a sequel to Girl in Gold Boots!  "I had such a pretty MIIIIIIIINNDD!"
     I can't believe this guy has survived in the film business for as long as he has.  Especially given the quality of his product.  He makes Ed Wood Jr. and Ray Dennis Steckler look like Peter Jackson.
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Scott Blacksher
Guest
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM »

Actually Ted is in the middle of shooting "The Cauldron: Baptism of Blood" which will be a sequel to his "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils".  Lots of female roles and few male roles this time around.

The "Doll Squad" sequel is on hold because there are people talking with Mikels about financial backing and making it a bigger movie.  Plus I'm sure Tura appreciates the time to drop a few more pounds (she would be playing the member from the old team sent to help train the new team).
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Stephen
Guest
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2003, 08:34:19 AM »

Is it just me, or do those Aliens remind me of Jason Voorhees.
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Mike
Guest
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM »

Ted V. Mikels's new movie (THE CAULDRON: BAPTISM OF BLOOD) promises to be just as bad, if not worse.  MARK is actually a lot better than most of Ted's other films - not nearly as lifeless and boring as, say, BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS.  CAULDRON has another HUGE cast of pretty much anybody that showed up to filming.  Even the AD, the sound guy, and the UPM all have bit parts.  It's like that for MARK too - the bored girl sitting on the curb that gets murdered is Christy Larson, who also did a lot of the gore effects and prop design.  Most of the cast of Ted's new CAULDRON movie also act in another unrelated crime movie coming out next year called MALEVOLENCE.
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Kimberly Lynn Cole
Guest
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2006, 04:09:03 PM »

Not sure if I am the one that they reviewer said would never make it as an actress, well I already have thank you.giggles
I was the one the Astro-zombie attacked me behind the clothesline in MOTAZ and then cut my throat after ripping off my sweater to reveal my red bra.  I shot my own scenes with my own crew and Ted used them.  I wanted to give him respect
because he is a legend like Ed Wood was.grin
It was great fun to do.
Look for some of my other films like the soon to be released
DEAD CLOWNS which is doing well in the U.K. right now and
CREMAINS destined to be a cult classic and HORRORTALES.666
with Julie Strain and Psycho Santa etc...
thanks
Kimberly Lynn Cole
Actress and Scream Queen
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bunnymud
Guest
« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2004, 11:50:57 AM »

I doubt he ment you.  I think he was talking about the older woman in the parking lot who screamed like a ten b***hes on a b***h boat
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Kimberly Lynn Cole
Guest
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2006, 04:09:03 PM »

That was so funny Bunnymud you had me laughing til I cried.
Thats some screaming!  Ten b***hes on a b***h boat.
PRETTY GOOD FUNNY

Thanks for cheering me up and making my day.

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Jay Gowey
Guest
« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM »

I made most of the masks used in "Mark".Its always funny to read how the Dr.DeMarco head looks so unlike Carradine.I used his actual lifemask from "the Howling" and simply added what was missing with latex and cheese cloth.I made Zekith alien bad guy in 6 hours.I was shown a make up appliance made by one of the other mask makers which was a kind of forehead.This didnt seem to fit the description of a burnt alien.I made him the very night I shipped the rest of the masks, machettes and gorilla arm.He was modified with a dinosaur eye and a coat of new paint.I made 4 wooden machettes (2 with cut outs)and 12 foamcore ones.A smaller metal machette was made in Las Vegas for a scene chopping open a lock and ground down by the gorilla arm.The gorilla arm turned out well and very realistic but, went unused for its actual purpose as Scott "Zokar" Blacksher has told already.I am also married to actress Nina Tepes who was killed after a shower (by Me as an astro).She is often questioned why didnt she turn around and flash the camera? The answer is she did and the shots were not used.Although Nina was happy to be in the movie she was disappointed she didnt get to be very bloody or very naked.She more than makes up for it in "One Bloody Night" (also with Brinke Stevens)soon to be released by Brain Damage Films."Mark" was my first movie to make props and masks for and was fun to makeover a world famous monster and to reunite Ted,Tura and Dr.DeMarco (from beyond the grave).Micheal Heagle made the good aliens as well as Zekiths aligator guards.Both Heagle and I designed original astro zombies both of which were rejected by fans of the original movie.For Ted I also made the masks used in The Cauldron:Baptism of Blood for Vessago and Tor.
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knightsaber1
Guest
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2007, 07:28:02 AM »

Well, there's one thing I can possibly say about the film at this point: it's the only movie I've ever seen where THE PLOT POINTS WERE SCROLLING ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN!!1!  Question
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Bentmen
Guest
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2008, 07:28:00 PM »

We (The BENTMEN) did the music for MOTAZ.

We wrote over five hours of music for the film without seeing a single frame of footage -- just going by Ted's synopsis, a few stills on his site and our own imaginations.

When the band got the final cut, we laid out the primary scenes and characters on a grid and started working in a leitmotif fashion -- mixing and matching the music with the major themes, rather like paint by numbers.  The entire score was assembled on a G4 Powerbook in Adobe Premiere.

The BENTMEN are known for being a very heavy rock band, and while there is ample proof of that in the film, we also wanted to take the opportunity to branch out into some different musical realms in which we don't often get to play.  Accordingly, we approached a number of sessions as "chamber music," with small sub-sections of the group performing.

Of course, once we merged the music from our giant misshapen rubber heads with the actual film, the tracks just landed the way they did because of their proximity to one important cue or another.  We would align the musical hit with the action, then lengthen the duration at either end to fit as needed and crossfade between the tracks before and after.

This led to some of the most interesting moments for us as a band, which were the accidental collages that result from interpolating two or more pieces together that hadn't been originally conceived that way, but were made so by the necessities of the plot.

We also did all the sound effects for the movie.  Every gunshot, every machete chop, door slam, ringing phone, along with ambient background sounds, individual sounds for every type of device in the alien's lab had to be manually inserted and aligned with frame-accuracy. 

It was, frankly, a colossal task, but we had a blast.

Ted’s primary direction to us was that we leave no dead spots in the movie -- fill it with as much music as possible -- and to treat it as "serious camp," in other words, nothing jokey about the tone. 

In fact, the only intentional joke we put in was using the sound of a modem as part of the titular "Mark" administered by Zekith and the Bad Aliens.  Judging from the copious amount of duct tape and styrofoam in their spaceship, we felt it likely these guys were using a dial-up connection!

We had a blast doing the score for this movie and Ted is a joy to work for.  So we hope you enjoy this big, loud, bloody, ridiculous, rock 'n' roll comic book of a movie, and as always, stay Bent!

http://www.bentmen.com
http://www.myspace.com/bentmen
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daniel shepherd
Guest
« Reply #12 on: October 03, 2008, 04:45:00 PM »

LOL, an army of mimes with machetes, that's something from my nightmares, too. This movie re-defines the meaning of B-movie.
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