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It’s alive … still. Well, more or less. Dead Man Still Walking, the Zombie Movie Podcast brought to you by Dr. Walking Dead Kyle Bishop, takes a double-feature plunge into early-1980s European zombie cinema. This time, Dr. Bishop examines Andrea Bianchi’s Italian splatter oddity Burial Ground (1981) alongside Jesús Franco’s desert-set Nazi-zombie snoozer, Oasis of the Zombies (1982).
First, Dr. Walking Dead finds surprising merit in Burial Ground, a gory, Fulci-influenced Italian zombie film full of shambling corpses, graveyard risings, grisly practical effects, and some outrageous storytelling choices. Then, Dr. Bishop turns to Oasis of the Zombies, a supposedly promising tale of undead Nazis guarding lost wartime gold — but one that he finds painfully dull, poorly assembled, and barely worth enduring for its few unsettling zombie images. Which film is a priority stream for gore hounds, and which one should be avoided at all costs? Join Dr. Kyle Bishop for this messy, mordant, and occasionally hilarious expedition into European zombie cinema.
Note: This episode contains major plot spoilers for Burial Ground and Oasis of the Zombies.
Also, to view ALL of Dr. Bishop’s Dead Man Still Walking solocast episodes can USE THIS LINK. And to view ALL of Dr. Bishop’s episode-by-episode commentaries on The Last of Us – Seasons 1 and 2, with Jay of the Dead, then USE THIS LINK.
Dead Man Still Walking is a biweekly, short-form solocast hosted by Dr. Walking Dead Kyle Bishop, author of American Zombie Gothic and How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture. Dr. Walking Dead also presents a popular segment called The Dead Zone on regular episodes of this podcast. For his Dead Man Still Walking solocast episodes, Dr. Bishop will focus exclusively on zombie films, with the occasional exploration of zombie-related themes, zombie television, and other zombie media (e.g., comics, literature, etc.).
Dr. Bishop is an academic and professional scholar of zombie films and other zombie narratives. He has been teaching for 26 years. Dr. Bishop serves as an English professor, Film Studies professor, and he’s currently the English Department Chair at Southern Utah University.
You are welcome to reach out to Dr. Bishop with comments or questions via email: bishopk@suu.edu, X: @DrWalkingDead, BlueSky and Instagram (@DrWalkingDead). You can also watch the documentary, Doc of the Dead (2014), which features Dr. Walking Dead. Find more links below for Dr. Bishop.
Be sure to subscribe to Jay of the Dead’s new Horror movie podcast on:
You are welcome to email our show at HauntingYourHeadphones@gmail.com. You can also follow Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies on X: @HorrorAvengers
Dead Man Still Walking with Dr. Kyle Bishop is brought to you by Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies, an audio Horror movie podcast. It features nine experienced Horror hosts review new Horror movies and deliver specialty Horror segments. Your hosts are Jay of the Dead, Dr. Shock, Gillman Joel, Mister Watson, Dr. Walking Dead, GregaMortis, Mackula, Ron Martin, Dave Zee and Spawn of the Dead! Due to the large number and busy schedule of its nine Horror hosts, Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies will be recorded in segments, piecemeal, at various times and recording sessions. Therefore, as you listen to our episodes, you will notice a variety of revolving door hosts and segments, all sewn together and reanimated like the powerful Monster of Dr. Frankenstein!
SHOW NOTES
– Introduction
- Welcome to Dead Man Still Walking with Dr. Walking Dead
- Dr. Bishop continues his exploration of late-1970s and early-1980s European zombie movies
- This episode is a double feature of Burial Ground and Oasis of the Zombies
- Dr. Kyle Bishop explains that he aims to cover historically important, influential, notorious, and accessible zombie films — not every zombie movie ever made
- Both films blur zombie conventions with elements more commonly associated with mummy stories.
- Spoiler warning: Both feature reviews are discussed in detail
Italian Zombie Movie:
Burial Ground (1981) – Spoilers!
Dr. Walking Dead = 7 ( High-priority Stream for Gore Hounds / Low-priority Stream for Others )
Dr. Bishop’s Discussion Points
– Written by Piero Regnoli and directed by Andrea Bianchi.
– An archaeology professor unleashes ancient living dead corpses from a crypt.
– Praise for the exceptionally repulsive, soggy, dripping zombie makeup.
– Strong Fulci influence, especially from Zombie / Zombi 2
– Discussion of a scene that echoes Fulci’s famous eye-injury imagery.
– The film uses Romero-style infection: victims of zombie attacks return as zombies.
– The practical gore effects include blood, organs, cannibalism, and extremely graphic kills.
– Dr. Bishop calls it possibly the second-goriest zombie movie he has seen, behind The Sadness.
– Discussion of the bizarre and disturbing mother-and-son subplot involving Michael.
– The “zombie nursing” scene is both grotesque and unintentionally funny.
European Zombie Movie:
Oasis of the Zombies (1982) – Spoilers!
Dr. Walking Dead = 2 ( Avoid )
Dr. Bishop’s Discussion Points
– Written and directed by Jesús Franco.
– Available in Spanish-language and French-language versions.
– The story concerns Nazi gold hidden in a North African oasis guarded by undead Nazi soldiers.
– Discussion of suspiciously inserted or appropriated World War II battle footage.
– The mismatched footage and awkward editing create unintentionally funny moments.
– The zombie scenes take a long time to arrive and are too scarce.
– The dried, desiccated creatures look more like mummies than conventional zombies.
– Some zombie makeup reportedly incorporates animal skins and decaying animal flesh. Eww!
– The zombies are unsettling, but the film offers little action or momentum.
– Dr. Bishop criticizes the film’s power to evoke boredom, its poor construction, and lack of payoff.
– He advises listeners to seek out zombie clips online instead of watching the full film.
– Dr. Walking Dead ranks it among the lowest-rated zombie movies he has reviewed.
Next time: Marvel Zombies (2025) with special guest Jay of the Dead!
Special thanks to website developer Jaxon Carroll and graphic designer Trump Widdop for their excellent work in helping Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies to have a nice, new website. Thank you! And big shout-out and thanks to Mister Watson and his son, Skylarr, for composing the music for Mister Watson’s Horror Hierarchy segment.
LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
Links for Dr. Walking Dead Kyle Bishop:
Follow Dr. Walking Dead on Letterbox’d
Email Dr. Bishop here: bishopk@suu.edu
Dr. Walking Dead’s Bio Page
Book: American Zombie Gothic
Book: How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture
— Kyle’s Amazon Author Profile
— Doc of the Dead zombie culture documentary
— Kyle’s re-animated Twitter: @DrWalkingDead
– Learn more about Dr. Walking Dead
– Faculty Friday: Meet Dr. Kyle Bishop, English
– TEDx SUU Talk on YouTube: Why Zombies Matter
– YouTube: Zombies: An idea worth spreading about how ideas spread
– YouTube: 50+ Shades of Gothic: Zombies, Bodies and Boundaries
– YouTube: Why zombie culture is so popular?
Jay of the Dead’s NEW HORROR MOVIES podcast links:
Email: HauntingYourHeadphones@gmail.com
Voicemail: (801) 980-1375
Twitter: @HorrorAvengers
YouTube Channel: Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies
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The soundtrack music for Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies is composed and performed by musicians Fred Ingram; Nate Johnivan; Mister Watson and his son, Skylarr; and Jason Pyles himself. Please support our talented musician friends by checking out more of Nate and Fred’s links below:
Links for musician Frederick Ingram:
Website: FrederickIngram.com
Frederick Ingram’s new album Initial Exposure (includes “Voltairine,” the theme music for Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies)
Frederick Ingram’s YouTube Music Channel
Listen to Frederick Ingram on SoundCloud
YouTube Music Video: “Voltairine” by Frederick Ingram (the theme music for Jay of the Dead’s New Horror Movies)
Interview: Hear Fred Ingram on Jay’s Songwriting Podcast
Frederick Ingram’s Fish Bowl (Funky Margarita Mix)
Links for musician Nate Johnivan:
Spotify Playlist
Quarantine Dream iii
Thank you for listening to Dead Man Still Walking with Dr. Walking Dead, proudly brought to you by Jay of the Dead’sNew Horror Movies, The Gold Standard of Horror Movie Podcasts.