New Zealand-based sales outfit Black Mandala has acquired rights to the award-winning horror-comedy “Vampire Zombies…From Space!” ahead of the Cannes Film Market.
The black-and-white genre mashup, directed by Mike Stasko, has been a festival favorite, collecting over 20 awards during its impressive festival run, including multiple audience choice awards and best feature honors.
Set in 1957, the film follows a motley crew — consisting of a grizzled detective, a skeptical rookie cop, a chain-smoking greaser, and a determined young woman — as they band together to stop Dracula‘s cosmic plan to turn the small town of Marlow into his personal army of vampire zombies.
“From the depths of space, Dracula has devised his most dastardly plan yet,” reads the synopsis. “A full-blown zombie outbreak hits, prompting the arrival of the dramatic (and slightly unhinged) Colonel Talbit and his troops.”
The 97-minute horror-comedy-sci-fi hybrid features notable genre appearances from Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Entertainment founder), Judith O’Dea (“Night of the Living Dead”), and David Liebe Hart (“Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!”). The main cast includes Jessica Antovski, Rashaun Baldeo, Andrew Bee, Oliver Georgiou, Craig Gloster, and Simon Reynolds.
Stasko, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jakob Skrzypa and Alex Forman, cited classics like “The Blob,” “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” and “Forbidden Planet” as inspirations, comparing the film’s comedic approach to Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.”
“With ‘Vampire Zombies…From Space!’ my goal was to create a hilarious satire of 1950s drive-in horror films,” Stasko said in his director’s notes. “To do this effectively, it needs to play the part and look the part first, and then turn each scene on its head.”
The film’s festival accolades include Audience Choice at Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival, Best Feature at Buried Alive Film Festival (where it also won Best Director and Best Production Design), Best Feature at South African Horrorfest, Best Sci-Fi Feature at New York City Horror Film Festival, and Best Canadian Feature at Victoria Film Festival.
Shot entirely in Windsor/Essex, Ontario, the production utilized locations like the Canadian Transportation Museum & Heritage Village, Essex United Church, and Historic Essex Railway Station to achieve its 1950s aesthetic. The film features extensive practical effects led by special effects artists Mitch Branget and Sebastien Gaspar-Woods.
“Vampire Zombies…From Space!” was produced by Theodore Bezaire, Gerry Lattmann, and Stasko, with cinematography by Ken Amlin and music by Ian McGregor Smith.
Black Mandala’s current slate includes several other horror and thriller titles aimed at global genre audiences, including period slasher thriller “No One Will Hear Your Scream,” “Play Dead,” starring Paula Brasca in a claustrophobic nightmare where she must lie motionless among corpses while mysterious rituals unfold above her; erotic thriller “Traumnovelle”; supernatural horror “Containment” that puts a fresh spin on possession tropes; and “Lake Jesup,” where redemption meets reptilian terror.
