The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies

Prepare to be mesmerized—and perhaps slightly horrified—by a cinematic oddity: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. With a title as long-winded as it is peculiar, it practically dares you not to pay attention. Celebrating its 60th anniversary, this 1964 curiosity is billed as the first-ever monster musical, blending the campy flair of B-grade horror with a cacophony of surreal musical numbers.

The plot—or what passes for one—follows Jerry (played by director Dennis Ray Steckler himself), a disaffected youth who stumbles into the clutches of sinister gypsies. Hypnosis, crime, and misfortune soon transform him into one of the titular “mixed-up zombies,” alongside a cast of otherworldly misfits. What ensues is an acid trip of bizarrely costumed dancers, toe-tapping musical interludes, grisly murders, and chaotic mayhem.

Steckler crafts an early 1960s cult classic by leaning heavily into the hallmarks of low-budget horror: a disjointed and almost nonsensical storyline, stiff acting, stilted dialogue, laughably flimsy sets, and amateurish special effects. The so-called “zombies” that shamblingly headline the movie are charmingly pathetic, their threadbare menace offset by the garish, highly saturated cinematography. This psychedelic color palette lends the film a dreamy, fever-dream quality, enhancing its eerie, off-kilter vibe.

The musical numbers, a kaleidoscope of kitsch, have to be seen to be believed. The elaborate yet campy choreography and eye-popping costumes suggest a horror-themed variety show gone wildly awry. Imagine Plan 9 from Outer Space reinvented as a jukebox musical, where each scene veers closer to a train wreck you can’t stop watching. Yes, there are films more absurd than Plan 9—and this one dances to the beat of its own gloriously deranged drum.

If you were to compare The Rocky Horror Picture Show to The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, the difference would be stark—like night and day. While Rocky Horror is celebrated as a cult-classic musical, Incredibly Strange Creatures holds a far less favorable reputation. Upon its release, the film was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews and is often cited by critics as one of the worst movies ever made.

In true B-movie fashion, the film’s promotion leaned heavily on gimmickry. During screenings, theater employees—or sometimes Steckler himself—would don monster masks and burst into the audience to deliver cheap thrills. This schlocky tactic, dubbed “Hallucinogenic Hypnovision” on promotional posters, added a layer of chaotic absurdity to an already bizarre experience. Despite these efforts, the film languishes in infamy, with a dismal 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, cementing its place in the annals of cinematic misfires.