Main Cast: Michael Rubin, George Seminara, Steve McCoy, Peter Bush, Cassie Madden
Release Year: 1987
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
Plot
This one-time 42nd Street midnight-movie favorite plays like a blackly comic blend of '50s cult-classic I Was a Teenage Werewolf and '80s horror satire Return of the Living Dead, set to an assortment of funky new-wave tunes. The story involves a gang of high school delinquents who murder the slimeball drug dealer (Steve McCoy) who sold them a substandard bag of weed, disposing of his body in a river laced with nuclear waste from a nearby power plant. Before long, the putrid pusher slithers to the surface as a sickly green zombie, bent on slaying the teens who dunked him in the drink. As a desperate countermeasure, the kids steal the body of the zombie's first victim from the morgue and dump him in the same river, creating an undead ally to defend them. Though at times too self-consciously loony, this horror comedy is certainly lively enough to merit its nominal cult status. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Cast
Michael Rubin - Dan Wake
George Seminara - Gordy
Steve McCoy - Mussolini
Peter Bush - Rosencrantz
Cassie Madden - Cindy Faithful
Gwyn Drischell - Margo; Allen Lewis Rickman - Lieberman; Lynnea Benson - Hilda; Ray Stough - Lenny; Robert Sabin - Chuckie; Brian Doyle - Shish-Ka-Bobber; Jim Martin - Park Druggie; Ken Baggett - Kevin Kramer; Joan Bostwick - Girl At Lake; Tom Caldoro - Gangster; Frank Devlin - Radio Announcer; Cindy Keiter - Miss Lugae; Gail Lucas - Teacher at Dance/Cindy's Friend; Sal Lumetta - Gangster; Kevin Nagle - The Byrd; Caren Pane - Poetry Teacher; Ted Polites - Moon; Steve Reidy - Policeman; Denise Texeira - Girl At Lake
Credit
Dora Katsoulogiannakis - Art Director, Tom Stampa - Art Director, Dora Katsoulogiannakis - Costume Designer, John Elias Michalakias - Director, John Elias Michalakias - Editor, Craig Seeman - Composer (Music Score), Jonathan Roberts - Composer (Music Score), Dora Katsoulogiannakis - Makeup, Mike Lacky - Makeup Special Effects, Carl Sorenson - Makeup Special Effects, Peter Lewnes - Cinematographer, Richard Hirsh - Producer, John Elias Michalakias - Producer, Mike Lacky - Special Effects, Carl Sorenson - Special Effects, Richard Hirsh - Sound/Sound Designer, Sal Lumetta - Sound/Sound Designer, Steve McCoy - Screenwriter, George Seminara - Screenwriter, James Martin - Screenwriter
The film begins like a 80's comedy with teens looking to score some marijuana but turns into comedy/horror genre when a drug dealer is pushed into the river and becomes a zombie.
Production
The film was shot on location in and around New York City, especially Brooklyn, Fort Lee, Riverside Park, and Rockland County. Some of the scenes near the beginning of the film were shot at Brooklyn College in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
The director of the film John Elias Michalakis had previously worked with Troma studios as a sound operator on the 1985 film The Toxic Avenger.
The film is currently out of print on DVD, however used copies of the original DVD and VHS are available for purchase online and in older video stores.
The glam/horror rock band The Murderdolls wrote a song called "She was a Teenage Zombie", in refrence to the film.
