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Michael and I talk the classics this week; White Zombie, I Walked with a Zombie, and King of the Zombies. And these movies have all had a significant influence on the horror genre. White Zombie, released in 1932, is considered one of the first zombie films and is credited with popularizing the concept of zombies in popular culture. It introduced audiences to the idea of the undead being controlled by a master, a theme that has been revisited in countless zombie films since.

I Walked with a Zombie, released in 1943, is often praised for its atmospheric and moody cinematography, as well as its exploration of voodoo and Caribbean folklore. The film has been cited as a major influence on later zombie films, particularly those that focus on the spiritual and supernatural aspects of the undead.

King of the Zombies, released in 1941, is a more comedic take on the zombie genre, featuring a group of characters who stumble upon a mysterious island filled with zombies controlled by a mad scientist. While the film may not be as well-known as some of its contemporaries, it has still had an impact on the genre, particularly in terms of its blend of horror and humor. Overall, these films have helped shape and define the zombie genre, influencing countless filmmakers and writers in the years since their release. Their themes and imagery continue to be revisited and reimagined in modern zombie films, making them enduring classics in the horror genre.

Did we like them? Have you seen them?

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How to unpick this one? Toyko Zombie first. 2005 Japanese and based on a Manga of the same name that is classed as one of the best.

It certainly hit a lot of the zombie movie themes. We have the reluctant hero, the cause, it happening in the background, societal collapse, and then the rich controlling the poor, before marauders take it for themselves.

But I found it quite slow, a little dull in places. Maybe, like Zom100 Bucket List of the Dead, the manga/anime is better and it just didn’t translate as well as it should.

The school boy/girl perversion at the start with the school teachers, and old man was limited to then, if there was any depravity I would bet it would have been later, after the collapse of the rule of law.

A few too many random characters, the guy from TV becoming the prince, the bald guy who stole the van wanting Calpis and becoming the marauder leader.

The oddest thing was seeing Tadanobu Asano from the Thor movies, Mongol, Shogun and Mortal Kombat in a stupid role.

And Burial Ground, 1981 Italian by Andrea Bianchi. In a nutshell a bunch of Italian couples descend on a remote rundown villa for 70s style soft core sex whilst perved over by creepy supposed teen Peter Bark's Michael. He is a truly weird and creepy character as he is playing a young teen but he is clearly in his late 20s or early 30s and looks older. Think the Martin Short movie Clifford but a really, really creepy version

Everyone is an idiot. They stand transfixed as full body suited rotting zombies slowly close in, then only react when they are within spitting distance.

It will annoy you. Janet screamed the whole time. The boys couldn't fight for shit. It has such little plot that they had to tack this final explanation blurb on the end.

If you watched Zombi 2 (Zombie Flesheaters) or Hell of the Living Dead (Zombie Creeping Flesh), or any of the other European movies from the same time and think you will give it a go, then sure, but it is the weakest by far.

4.5/10 for both from me, and will talk about them in a discussion episode with Michael soon

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A king related episode. No, not THE King (Elvis not Charles), but the zombie king, or the king of the zombies. Same naming, very, very different movies.

Zombie King was filmed in 21 days in the UK in 2011. It looked awful in the trailer and it was.. It has a milkman (the writer) and a postman as 2 of the main characters. It also and this was the draw stars former child stars Edward Terminator 2 Furlong and Corey Lost Boys/Goonies/Stand by Me Feldman as the Zombie King and the spirit Kalfu, aka Papa Legba a Luwa from Haitian voodoo respectively.

It gets an overly generous 3/10 on IMDB and the blurb is “in an attempt to bring his dead wife back to lie (aka Pet Sematary) Samuel performs black magic that backfires and turns him into the zombie king. Hordes of zombies soon wreak havoc over the human race. 0/10 for originality there.

It is awful and despite the two Hollywood actors being top billed and on the cover, Furlong is in it for about 6 minutes in total and Feldman for not even 2 minutes of screen time.

Watch it at your peril. It is a 3/10 at best, and probably should be marked lower.

As for the 1941 King of the Zombies, I thought it was ok. Black and white. Voodoo. A lot of comedy mixed in with it. But one character in the middle of everyone else playing it straight. Certainly better than White Zombie and I waked with a Zombie. I Walked with a Zombie gets a staggering 7/10 on IMDB and 85% on Rotten Tomatoes making it the best scoring of the old old 30-50s zombie movies.

A plane crashed onto a Caribbean island, the three survivors (Mac, Bill and Jefferson) meet a Doctor Sangre who used voodoo to control the locals, and also to extract information from a US Admiral who went missing on a secret government mission. Sangre is totally a Nazi.

It wasn't as well thought of as White Zombie or I walked with a Zombie.

This however, despite the political incorrectness, was really entertaining at times. Jefferson was the star. He played it well. The Doctor as over the top. I hate it when my villains are clearly villains. But Henry Victor is camping it up.He was a silent movie star. And, coming back to White Zombie, Bela Legosi was meant to play the Doctor but was busy, so they then wanted Peter Lorre, but negotiations failed so they ended up with victor. Purcell, who played Mac, was also Captain America. Cool.

It is a 6.5/10 for me