Welcome to Mail Order Zombie!

Since 2008, Mail Order Zombie has covered zombie movies, zombie movie music, post-apocalyptic and zombie literature, zombie comics, zombie games, zombie operas, etc. Weekly, Brother D brings the reviews, and Miss Bren joins him for the weekly Feedback Discussion. Zombie news from around the world is covered in the Zombie Beat, and interviews with zombie media makers round out the show.

Monday, September 26, 2011

AMC to Launch Walking Dead Talk Show

From the MOZ Newsdesk . . .

AMC will launch a talk show about the zombie series The Walking Dead this fall. It will be called Talking Dead and will be hosted by Chris Hardwick.

The show will will examine all the weekly plight of the survivors and their undead adversaries through conversations with fans, actors, and producers

The show will air Fridays at 11pm, right after the encore airing the latest Walkind Dead episode,

You’ll be able to catch Talking Dead on Fridays at 11, right after the “encore” airing the latest episode, with one exception: the first episode of the talk show will air directly after the October 16th premiere of TWD season 2.

Need a Nickname Scott

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Brother D on The B-Movie Cast

Download The B-Movie Cast #170 here!

Brother D appears on Episode 170 of The B-Movie Cast:

On today’s show we are just back from our vacation to London and Paris and we are exhausted. So our good friend Brother D from The Mail Order Zombie podcast was nice enough to create a great music show for us. We will all be back next week with a new show.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

This movie doesn't need zombies: 'Godfather of Gore: The Herschell Gordon Lewis Documentary'

We're living in a grand era of horror and genre documentaries. Three of the big horror franchises from the 80s and 90s have been given the documentary treatment (Halloween: 25 Years of Terror, His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th and Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy). There are documentaries covering horror authors (Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown), horror sub-genres (Zombiemania and Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film) and horror conventions (Monster Bash - Origins). We even have multiple documentaries covering horror hosts (Every Other Day Is Halloween, American Scary and Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominion).

Image Entertainment and Something Weird Video dip their toes into the genre documentary pool with Godfather of Gore: The Herschell Gordon Lewis Documentary on September 27, 2011. However, horror fans may want to brace themselves. While H. G. Lewis is perhaps most well-known for his, for better or worse, groundbreaking horror films, nearly the first third of the documentary spends its screen time exploring the pre-bloody history of Lewis-the-filmmaker. We're given his background, how it intersects with the history of the exploitation film and the "nudie cuties" and what ultimately led him to break the bloody ground of Blood Feast. While I certainly find the non-Hollywood-side of filmmaking history fascinating, it does get a bit drawn out in this documentary. I didn't need to see as many clips from the nudie cuties; I didn't need the sound effects whenever someone's genitalia accidentally appeared in any of those film clips; I didn't need to hear everyone bragging about producer David Friedman's ability to talk women out of their clothes for his collaborations with Lewis.

Having Joe Bob Briggs and Frank Henenlotter pop up to express how awful the nudie cuties were (not just Lewis' contributions but the entire subgenre) certainly helped. I laughed out loud when Henenlotter appeared on screen to tell us how "stupid" these films were.

When the documentary gets to the gore-portion of Lewis' career, it doesn't hold back (not that it held back when referencing all the nudie cuties!). The footage is bloody, exploitive, graphic and gruesome. Surviving and available cast and crew reflect on their time working with Lewis and company, and we get a near film-by-film chronology of the films Lewis and Friedman worked on together. There's a short mention made of a falling out between the two, and then we're back to the filmography, sans Friedman. Friedman and Lewis definitely have current chemistry on screen, however; if there was any serious bad blood between the two, it must have long mellowed by now.

The documentary is interesting, and takes us to the sticky floors of film history. It moves along at a quick pace, sometimes to a fault. For a documentary called Godfather of Gore, I was surprised to come away from it feeling as if we rushed through some of the gore films. Perhaps this is indicative of my own film interests, but I didn't need as much time spent on Lewis' nudie cutie filmography.

Perhaps it was because of this quick pace that some elements of Lewis' career were glossed over or skipped all together. There's no reference made to the film Monster A-Go-Go, which Lewis kinda-sorta co-directed with Bill Rebane. The movie Something Weird is covered, but, despite this documentary being released by Something Weird Video, no connection is drawn between the film and its influence on the founder of SWV. Mention is made of Lewis' adversarial relationship with Connie Mason which apparently began when she first appeared in Blood Feast, but this is never discussed further (it's implied that Mason had a very diva-like attitude, and since Lewis is portrayed as a efficient quick-and-dirty movie maker, I would have liked to have learned how he dealt with this "diva" and why he decided to cast her again in his next film Two Thousand Maniacs!).

Mason doesn't appear in the documentary (except for an end credits sequence in which she appears on stage with Lewis and company at a horror convention singing the Two Tousand Maniacs! title song). There is a distinct lack of women overall, and most of the horror film clips showcase women getting killed (granted, most of Lewis' film victims were women, but there were some men killed in ...Maniacs!), which does give Godfather of Gore: The Herschell Gordon Lewis Documentary an odd, albeit slight, sexist edge. Of course, considering what kinds of films Lewis made, what the market was, etc., this may have been the intent of director Henenlotter.

There is a nice spotlight shone on regular Lewis performer actor William Kerwin. It quickly became obvious that everyone who ever worked with Kerwin remembers the late actor fondly, and it was nice to hear stories about how he not only performed in front of the camera, but helped whenever and wherever he could behind the camera. Additionally, footage from an unfinished H. G. Lewis film called An Eye for an Eye has been restored and cobbeled together for this DVD release, and I think it's a real shame this particular film was never completed. It definitely has a broader feel than most of Lewis' genre output at the time, and would have perhaps made an interesting eventual double-feature pic to play against X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes at some point.

John Waters appears in the documentary and makes an interesting point: there's no such thing as exploitation cinema anymore. Everything that was shocking - nudity, gore, etc. - has all been co-opted by Hollywood and appears in mainstream films now. Perhaps this is why Lewis got out of film industry when he did, but, again, this documentary doesn't explore this stage of Lewis' career too deeply either. He just kind of . . . stopped making movies. He went on to have a successful career in marketing, and that's that. The DVD ends. No mention of the Blood Feast sequel or the Two Thousand Maniacs! remake. We see some footage of Lewis at a business conference, Waters, Briggs and company reflect on Lewis' place in film history, and the end credits role.

While I certainly wish the documentary had been less love letter and more historical document, I still enjoyed the Godfather of Gore: The Herschell Gordon Lewis Documentary. Briggs doesn't say much more than he's already written in his book Profoundly Disturbing: The Shocking Movies that Changed History and Waters certainly doesn't dive into anything new from him, either. I don't think it's something I'll go back to again, but it did give me some ideas of some movies to add to my To-Watch list.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Mail Order Zombie: Episode 172 - Zombie Hunters: City of the Dead, Woods of Terror, Forest of the Dead, Attack of the Moon Zombies & World of the Dead

Download Mail Order Zombie: Episode #174 here!

We're not podfading - we're pod-recharging! This is Episode 172, the final-for-now episode of Mail Order Zombie, and before we go on hiatus for the rest of 2011, we've got a lot of business to finish. Brother D takes a look at the movies World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries (dir. Michael Bartlett and Kevin Gates), Attack of the Moon Zombies (dir. Christopher R. Mihm) and Woods of Terror/Zombie Village (dir. Jason Impey). MOZ Family Member Zombiwan calls in to help talk about the movie Forest of the Dead (dir. Brian Singleton), and Miss Bren sits down with D to watch and talk about Season One of the television series Zombie Hunters: City of the Dead (created by Patrick Devaney, who's featured with producer Chrisopher J. Murphy in an interview from HorrorHound Weekend). Even though Brother D and Miss Bren are taking a break from zombie podcasting, Professor Chad isn't missing a step with his Zombie Aptitude Test and is still take answer for the current ZAT question. Need-a-Nickname Scott is back with the news in the Zombie Beat; the winner of the Zombie Hunters contest is announced; we review your emails and voicemails in the Feedback Discussion . . . we packed a lot into this episode to help tide you over until Mail Order Zombie proper returns in January 2012!

Email us at MailOrderZombie@gmail.com or call us at 206-202-2505!
Palavr.com Forums - http://palavr.com/forum.php/

Plan D: The Official Website of Derek M. Koch - http://www.derekmkoch.com

Attack of the Moon Zombies - http://www.moonzombies.com
Zombie Hunters: City of the Dead - http://www.zombiehuntershow.com
The Monster Channel - http://www.100ymm.com

High School of the Dead "Best Scene" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtlMjRqfQs
Dagon Industries - http://arkhambazaar.com/dagon-industries-store
The H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival - http://hplfilmfestival.com/

Stag Night of the Dead UK DVD release - http://www.stagnightofthedead.com/blog/stag-night-of-the-dead-dvd/
Fangoria's exclusive details on Stag Night of the Dead's DVD release - http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5619:exclusive-trailer-pics-stag-night-of-the-dead&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=167
Zombies, Run! iPhone & Android app - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sixtostart/zombies-run-a-running-game-and-audio-adventure-for
Plants vs. Zombies add-ons - http://toucharcade.com/2011/09/08/plants-vs-zombies-update-adds-new-mini-games/

(Various production music produced by Kevin MacLeod and Midnight Syndicate.)

RIP Third Coast Zed.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Mail Order Zombie: Episode 171 - Vs. The Dead, Bloodlust Zombies, The Walking Dead Girls, Dead of Night: A Zombie Novel

Download Mail Order Zombie #171 here!

In this week's episode of Mail Order Zombie, Brother D pushes through three movie reviews: Vs. The Dead (dir. Jeff Beckman and Phil Pattison), The Walking Dead Girls (dir. Tyler Benjamin) and Bloodlust Zombies (dir. Dan Lantz); he also tackles the upcoming novel Dead of Night: A Zombie Novel from award-winning author Jonathan Maberry. Throw in some hot Zombie Aptitude Test action, the Feedback Discussion and a new contest? Let's do this thing!

Email us at MailOrderZombie@gmail.com or call us at 206-202-2505!
Palavr.com Forums - http://palavr.com/forum.php/

(Various production music produced by Kevin MacLeod.)

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Mail Order Zombie: Episode 170.5 - Autopsy of the Dead Panel, plus the New ZAT

LinkDownload Mail Order Zombie: Episode #170.5 here!

Need-a-Nickname Scott & Tracey bring us another recording from the Famous Monsters of Filmland from earlier this year. This time around, they bring us the panel devoted to the Dead Letter Award-winning documentary Autopsy of the Dead. If you listen closely, you'll get to hear Scott even ask the panel a question or two (but, oddly enough, he doesn't ask about the naked zombie - go figure). Also, Professor Chad is back with a new Zombie Aptitude Test question for the MOZ Family.

Email us at MailOrderZombie@gmail.com or call us at 206-202-2505!
Palavr.com Forums - http://palavr.com/forum.php/

The Dead Infested by Edward J. Russell - http://www.thedeadinfested.com

Autopsy of the Dead - http://www.livingdeaddocumentary.com/

(Various production music produced by Kevin MacLeod.)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Mail Order Zombie: Episode 170 - Post-Apocalyptic Summer - On the Beach

Download Mail Order Zombie #170 here!

Our internet connection tried to completely die on us . . . Bren tried to completely die on us . . . but we still have our final installment of our Post-Apocalyptic Summer series, Brother D, Miss Bren and Tracey spend some time On the Beach. Bren and Tracey read the Nevil Shute novel; D and Bren watched the 2000 Australian television mini-series (dir. Russell Mulcahy); all three watched the 1959 film (dir. Stanley Kramer). Also, Brother D reviews the answers from this PAS series' Post-Apocalyptic Quiz, and Bren joins him for another serving of the Feedback Discussion.

Email us at MailOrderZombie@gmail.com or call us at 206-202-2505!
Palavr.com Forums - http://palavr.com/forum.php/

Special thanks to Philip R. Davey for his book When Hollywood Came to Melbourne.

(Various production music produced by Kevin MacLeod.)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Mail Order Zombie: Episode 169.5 - Drive-In Horrorshow, Robert R. Best on Phantasm & a show announcement

Download Mail Order Zombie: Episode #169.5 here!

This week on Mail Order Zombie, Brother D takes a look at the anthology horror film Drive-In Horrorshow (dir. Michael Neel), and Dead Letter Award-nominated writer Robert R. Best (Lakewood Memorial, Ashton Memorial) calls in his thoughts about the classic Phantasm (dir. Don Coscarelli). And while we don't normally do a lot of Feedback in these off-week episodes, but Brother D wants to address something brought up by a listener and then, please . . . PLEASE . . . can we stop talking about zombie

Please? :)

Email us at MailOrderZombie@gmail.com or call us at 206-202-2505!
Palavr.com Forums - http://palavr.com/forum.php/

Robert R. Best - http://www.robertrbest.com/
Drive-In Horrorshow - http://driveinhorrorshow.com/

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Mail Order Zombie: Episode 169 - The Dead and the Damned (Cowboys and Zombies), plus Listener Reviews

Download Mail Order Zombie #169 here!

Brother D is crushing dreams by refusing to talk about zombie porn in Episode 169 of Mail Order Zombie. Instead, he gets his Western groove on with a review of the movie The Dead and the Damned, aka Cowboys and Zombies (dir. Rene Perez). Some MOZ Family members (Lionmark, Silent Death and Jay from PennyCult) take a look back on some movies previously discussed on the show and offer their own takes. Deadfinger calls in with a brief update on the production of World War Z, Professor Chad reviews your Zombie Aptitude Test answers from last month and presents the latest ZAT question, and Miss Bren joins the show for the Feedback Discussion.


Mail Order Zombie. Crushing dreams since January 2008.

Email us at MailOrderZombie@gmail.com or call us at 206-202-2505!
Palavr.com Forums - http://palavr.com/forum.php/

The Dead Infested - http://www.thedeadinfested.com

Zombie Go Boom! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV730kvLSJA
Board Game Night at This Amazing Life - Zombies!!! - http://sjhadventures.blogspot.com/2011/08/board-game-night.html
"Thirteen Women (And Only One Man in Town)" by Bill Haley and His Comets - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCl0EzB7jqo

Frank Darabont walks from The Walking Dead - http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/walking-dead-shocker-frank-darabont-steps-down-as-showrunner/
Greg Nicotero directs The Walking Dead webisodes - http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/25580
Flashbacks in The Walking Dead's Season Two - http://www.tvguide.com/News/Kecks-Exclusive-Flashbacks-1036172.aspx
The Walking Dead videogame - http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=33719
James Gunn and Lollipop Chainsaw - http://www.jamesgunn.com/2011/08/01/my-new-video-game-with-suda15-grasshopper-lollipop-chainsaw/
Cookie Monster is tired of zombies - http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/07/tired-of-zombies-so-is-cookie-monster/
San Jose Zombie-O-Rama - http://www.zombieorama.com
Zombie bowling balls - http://www.designmadeingermany.de/2011/15183/
Kelley's Island overrun with zombies this October - http://www.kiventureresort.com/
The Zed Word's SEXY ZOMBIE Photo Contest - http://www.zedwordblog.com/2011/07/sexy-zombie-photo-contest-aug-01-31.html

(Various production music produced by Kevin MacLeod.)


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Mail Order Zombie: Episode 168.5 - Zombie author Tony Faville (Kings of the Dead & Avery Nolan: Private Dick of the Dead)

Download Mail Order Zombie #168.5 here!

You know him as Zombie Hunter Tony, but last week at Powell's, he was known as Tony Faville, author of the books Kings of the Dead and Avery Nolan: Private Dick of the Dead. In this episode of Mail Order Zombie, MOZ Family Member Silent Death reviews Tony's latest book and then you can join Brother D as he attended Tony's reading (he read from both books!) and question-and-answer session.

(Check out the Books category at http://tinyurl.com/mozmarket to buy your own copies of Tony's books!)

Email us at MailOrderZombie@gmail.com or call us at 206-202-2505!
Palavr.com Forums - http://palavr.com/forum.php/

Tony Faville, A boy and his blog - http://tonyfaville.com/
Avery Nolan: Private Dick of the Dead on Smashwords - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68201

Powell's Books - http://www.powells.com

(Various production music produced by Kevin MacLeod.)