Capsule reviews

• Nudist Colony of the Dead: A campy musical along the lines of Cannibal: The Musical. Literally campy, actually, since it's set at a religious summer camp built atop a former nudist colony. Attacked by the church, the nudists committed mass suicide rather than see their land taken away. Now, they rise from the grave at the touch of a zealot's foot upon their property. Naked costumes, ethnic stereotypes, unexpectedly impressive gore effects, and charming musical numbers ensue.


• Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies: Japanese horror American-style featuring a writhing mass of uniform-clad undead schoolgirls. Looks like a fantastic movie, but unfortunately I've only found it in Japanese. I'm sure it'll be worthy of a full review once I experience it aurally as well as visually.


• Oasis of the Zombies: Nazi zombies lurk in a nominal oasis, enjoying their hobbies of snarling, occasional staggering, and waiting for attractive young adults to murder. Flashbacks tell the tale of wartime ambushes and star-crossed multicultural lovers. A character named Robert Blabbert elicits giggles.


• Zombie Nightmare: This eighties clunker was immortalized on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and I urge you to uncover that version. Voodoo brings a baseball bat-wielding dude back from the dead to avenge himself on his careless teenage murderers. Adam West is a corrupt detective on the case. Mike and the bots offer much-needed levity.


• Carnival of Souls: While not technically a zombie film, this 1962 horror film nevertheless influenced a great many movies. In particular, the famous scene of ghouls emerging from the water directly inspired a similar scene in Romero's Land of the Dead. It's a good scene in a surprisingly good movie, and brings forth some life versus death concepts that zombie movies tend to explore. A horror classic.