In 1952 Republic reduced serial production to only two serials a year, with two re-releases. Their two releases, RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON, and ZOMBIES OF THE
STRATOSPHERE, were almost twins, both had Earth being invaded by aliens from outer space, and both heroes had a rocket suit, and the heroine in both was played
by the same actress. RADAR MEN has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, but there is something about ZOMBIES that made me uneasy. First reason is the
title. ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE sound more like something Ed Woods would concoct to go along with PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, or BRIDE OF THE MONSTER. I rate
it as one of my bottom three Republics along with PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO and JUNGLE DRUMS OF AFRICA. I even like THE INVISIBLE MONSTER and DESPERADOES OF
THE WEST better.
This is the last of four Republic serials concerning evil aliens from outer space. The other three serials had them trying to conquer the Earth, but here they attempt to build a hydrogen bomb and place it in just the right spot, so when it is detonated, it will cause Earth to spin out of it's orbit, so they can move Mars into our more desirable orbit. That sure is a WTF is going on here plot if there ever was one.
Judd Holdren plays hero Larry Martin, and seemed to have a monopoly of this type of role, also being the hero of CAPTAIN VIDEO, THE LOST PLANET, and the COMMANDO CODY television show. While being a good looking hero, he was a bit too wooden to carry a film.. Aline Towne was a cute heroine, but she did very little other than sit in a chair. Lane Bradford was acceptable as lead heavy, but the rest of the cast was second rate. Stanley Waxman is the Earth scientist that joins the Martians' plot, and he is very weak. People named Stanley Waxman don't get involved with world wide plots, that is the name of someone who would own a neighborhood deli. John Crawford as the main action heavy looks totally lost. In one scene Waxman and Bradford are plotting something, and he is just standing there totally zoned out.
While all serials in the last few years were built around stock footage, ZOMBIES had too much from varied sources that made it too disjointed. In chapter one there is stock from DICK TRACY RETURNS with the army tank catching up to a train hijacked by the heavies, and you can clearly see the Stark boys. The main problem is the Tracy footage is much more of an old fashioned style of film making, and the shooting styles doesn't match. One of the worst uses of stock in any serial was in chapter four where get this, they used stock from the Roy Rogers western, BELLS OF CORONADO. Other stock included submarine footage from KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED, the robot robbing a bank FROM MYSTERIOUS DR, SATAN, boat chases from G-MEN VS. THE BLACK DRAGON and SPY SMASHER, Commando Cody's rocketship from RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON and so on.
Speaking of the rocket ship, it had to be the slowest one in history getting up to an exciting 50 miles per hour. It went so slow, Holdren was able to catch up to it with his flying suit.
The ending was pretty strange. After finally finishing the hydrogen bomb and setting it to go off, the Martian's ship crashes, and the surviving Martian tells Holdren where to locate the bomb to defuse it. Again, WTF??? Why would he do that?
Pa says, what the Hell, go ahead and watch it, but don't expect anything from it.
This is the last of four Republic serials concerning evil aliens from outer space. The other three serials had them trying to conquer the Earth, but here they attempt to build a hydrogen bomb and place it in just the right spot, so when it is detonated, it will cause Earth to spin out of it's orbit, so they can move Mars into our more desirable orbit. That sure is a WTF is going on here plot if there ever was one.
Judd Holdren plays hero Larry Martin, and seemed to have a monopoly of this type of role, also being the hero of CAPTAIN VIDEO, THE LOST PLANET, and the COMMANDO CODY television show. While being a good looking hero, he was a bit too wooden to carry a film.. Aline Towne was a cute heroine, but she did very little other than sit in a chair. Lane Bradford was acceptable as lead heavy, but the rest of the cast was second rate. Stanley Waxman is the Earth scientist that joins the Martians' plot, and he is very weak. People named Stanley Waxman don't get involved with world wide plots, that is the name of someone who would own a neighborhood deli. John Crawford as the main action heavy looks totally lost. In one scene Waxman and Bradford are plotting something, and he is just standing there totally zoned out.
While all serials in the last few years were built around stock footage, ZOMBIES had too much from varied sources that made it too disjointed. In chapter one there is stock from DICK TRACY RETURNS with the army tank catching up to a train hijacked by the heavies, and you can clearly see the Stark boys. The main problem is the Tracy footage is much more of an old fashioned style of film making, and the shooting styles doesn't match. One of the worst uses of stock in any serial was in chapter four where get this, they used stock from the Roy Rogers western, BELLS OF CORONADO. Other stock included submarine footage from KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED, the robot robbing a bank FROM MYSTERIOUS DR, SATAN, boat chases from G-MEN VS. THE BLACK DRAGON and SPY SMASHER, Commando Cody's rocketship from RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON and so on.
Speaking of the rocket ship, it had to be the slowest one in history getting up to an exciting 50 miles per hour. It went so slow, Holdren was able to catch up to it with his flying suit.
The ending was pretty strange. After finally finishing the hydrogen bomb and setting it to go off, the Martian's ship crashes, and the surviving Martian tells Holdren where to locate the bomb to defuse it. Again, WTF??? Why would he do that?
Pa says, what the Hell, go ahead and watch it, but don't expect anything from it.
