Alien Dead (1980)

We’re flying to Florida for this film, a Fred Olen Ray directed effort that features Buster Crabbe — yes, the original Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers — as Sheriff Kowalski, a man who must battle the mutants who rise from the swamps when a meteor lands.

This isn’t near the movie that Ray’s follow-up, Scalps, would be, but there’s still lots of fun to be had. It was originally going to be about giant leeches, but then it turned out that those monsters would be too expensive. Zombies, however, are relatively cost-efficient.

Shot over eight weekends for no money, this has zombies eating gators. Really, we should not want more out of life. This should be satisfying knowledge, knowing that giant apex predators face off with the shambling redneck dead and a geriatric former space opera hero is here to save every one of us one more time.

Also, as I’ve learned from Shock Waves, I’m all about watching zombies rise from the dirtiest of water, so that is also a reason to watch, if you have similar predilections.