''I Was a Zombie for the F.B.I.'' is a 1982 science fiction black-and-white film. It was directed by Marius Penczner and filmed by students from Memphis State University, now known as the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

Plot

After landing by Pleasantville, United States, the aliens convince two Earth criminals to help them rule the world. The aliens hypnotize people into a "zomboid state" and unleash a reptilian creature. Two F.B.I. agents fight against the aliens, criminals, and the creature to combat the threat of imminent world domination.

Production

Inspired by 1950s science fiction films, ''I Was a Zombie for the F.B.I.'' was filmed in black-and-white by Memphis State students and was directed by Marius Penczner. The film's budget was $27,000, which came from the director's Emmy award-winning short film. The

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

reptilian monster was later used in the director's film ''TV Dinners''.

Reception

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and Dennis Hopper enjoyed the film, as did the bands

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sou ...

and

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

. Dylan said that he wished he was in the film. Mac McEntire, writing for ''DVD Verdict'', said that he liked the film, but that "long stretches of dialogue with little to no action might be true to the era to which this film pays tribute, but it might move a little too slowly for some of today's viewers". Andy McKeague, of ''

Monsters and Critics Monsters and Critics is an online entertainment news website focusing on TV, movies and celebrities. It publishes news, reviews, recaps, interviews, feature articles, explainers, blogs and commentary. The website has been owned by Digital Minef ...

'', wrote that "''Zombie'' is a fun film, but one you need to be in the right mood for. It has all the markings of the 1950s TV cop shows it deliberately resembles and enough of the E.T. savvy to appeal to fans of ''Plan 9'' to ''The X-files''".

Home media

The film was first released on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

in 1995. It was released on DVD in 2005 with title cards, new footage, new effects, and different music. The director removed 33 minutes of footage from the film.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0138508 1982 films 1980s science fiction films American black-and-white films American science fiction films Alien invasions in films American zombie films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films