EDITOR’S NOTE: Toxic Zombies was on USA Up All Night on November 17, 1989.

Writer, director, producer, editor and star Charles McCrann made this low-budget — but hey, it played USA Network — movie where drug crops are sprayed with chemicals and turn growers into zombies. That’s a novel idea, and this movie started a subgenre of zombie films all about rednecks.

McCrann was a Princeton University and Yale Law School grad, senior vice-president of the Marsh & McLennan Companies financial services company and worked high up in the World Trade Center, where he sadly died on 9/11.

Under that suit and tie, you would have found the heart of a horror movie fan who finally got to make his own movie. It’s not the best zombie movie you’ve ever seen, but hey, John Amplas (Martin) and Judith Brown (The Big Doll House) are in it. It also made the grade as a legit video nasty.

The premise is a stroke of pure, high-concept exploitation genius. Federal agents, in a misguided attempt to eradicate marijuana crops, decide to spray the fields with an experimental, highly toxic chemical. Naturally, the plan backfires spectacularly. Instead of just killing the plants, the chemical turns the local growers into mindless, flesh-hungry zombies.

McCrann was a graduate of Princeton and Yale Law and a high-level executive at Marsh & McLennan. McCrann was the ultimate suit by day, horror freak by night. He actually filmed this during his time working in the World Trade Center, a stark contrast to his corporate life.

You can watch this on Tubi.