I Was a Teenage Zombie (1987)

(On Cable TV, September 2022) I’m not sure if I was in the wrong mood or if I Was a Teenage Zombie is really not that funny—but for a teenage horror comedy, it didn’t feel all that amusing or scary. Made on what looks like a used car’s budget, the film is a laborious watch even at the best of times: the scary elements are limited to a zombie drug dealer (and then a zombie drug dealer fighter), and the comedy usually doesn’t work at a few dim exceptions. It’s not a surprise, considering the amateurishness of the production, that everything is off, from the terrible sound to the lousy structure, regrettable dialogues and unconvincing special effect. What I Was a Teenage Zombie’s director John Elias Michalakis may have, for some viewers, is rough-hewn charm—the kind of earnest but not slick filmmaking you usually get from other outfits such as Troma Pictures, with jabs of offensive material off-putting the more likable moments. Still, that’s really not much of a recommendation—you can pick movies off the street that are more likable and better made than this one.