Cade and Kit

🧠 “An Earnest Approach to Idiocy”

Right out of the gate, Jakob said it best:

“It’s a dumb title. And it’s a dumb movie. But we wanted to make the dumbest movie as seriously and as well as we could.”

Vampire Zombies from Space is black-and-white, full of miniatures, fake rubber bats, retro costumes, and practical effects that walk the perfect line between clever and chaotic. The film feels like it was made by people who grew up watching Ed Wood and Mel Brooks, but also know their way around a story structure.

Jakob and his writing partner Alex went through 24 drafts of the script, which shows. Every character has a purpose. Every gag has pacing. Every absurd moment is grounded in sincerity.

🎭 The Key to Great Comedy? Don’t Wink.

One of the highlights of our conversation was Jakob’s take on comedic tone:

“To these characters, it’s not a joke. Even if what’s happening is funny, they’re taking it seriously.”

That’s why the film lands. Whether it’s a man fist-fighting a pair of severed legs or a patriot encouraging everyone to kill themselves to avoid zombification, the humor works because the characters mean it. There’s no wink to the camera. No “get it?” pause.

Even the most absurd bits—like a greaser grieving a lost threesome—are delivered with full emotional commitment.

🦵 Favorite Scenes (and Severed Limbs)

We asked Jakob to share his favorite moments during production, and he gave us two:

1. A rambling military general who describes everything in the most unnecessarily complicated terms.

2. A fully choreographed fight scene between a man and a pair of severed legs, made possible through some beautifully executed VFX.

We were particularly obsessed with that second one. Kit—who’s notoriously hard to impress with visual effects—called it “genuinely hilarious and technically impressive,” especially because it committed to the bit longer than it should have. And that’s where the laugh lived.

🎭 Casting: B-listers, cult icons, and local mayors

Originally scheduled to shoot in 2020 (oops), the team had considered a few recognizable union actors. But when the pandemic forced delays, they pivoted—focusing instead on cult figures and local gems.

• They cast Judith O’Dea from Night of the Living Dead

• Pulled in characters from the Tim & Eric universe

• Included non-actors, like the actual mayor of Jakob’s hometown, for that slightly-off delivery that only non-actors can pull off

The result is a perfectly unpolished ensemble that balances real performances with just enough wooden weirdness to echo the film’s 1950s inspiration.

🧛‍♂️ The Ending That Almost Was

One of our favorite dark comedy beats involves a character making a speech to rally the town—only to suggest they all kill themselves before the zombies can get to them. He follows through with a hatchet. The others… do not.

Turns out that was almost the film’s original ending: a mass suicide that left the vampires standing there confused.

“We were going for a Holy Grail-style disappointment. But in the end, we figured we owed people a real third act after 90 minutes of chaos.”

Fair.

👻 The Horror Film That Shaped Him

When asked about his favorite horror movie, Jakob gave the answer and the origin story: The Exorcist, rented on VHS at a garage sale when he was eight years old. A raised Catholic, Jakob was so scared he asked his church if demons were real.

They said yes.

“It scared the hell out of me. And it stuck.”

And that’s how horror loyalty is born.

🎬 What’s Next?

Jakob teased a new project currently in development: a satirical slasher film called Canada Day, which carries the same tone and ambition as Vampire Zombies, but with an entirely new visual style and subgenre target.

We’ll be watching.

And we’ll be sitting in the back row grinning.

🎤 We’re Cade & Kit. Real People. Real Reviews.
But sometimes we interview filmmakers who made us laugh out loud in public.

Thank you, Jakob. And long live the greaser, the rubber bats, and the mayor.

Links for crew

⁠The Film⁠ | Directed by Mike Stasko,| Writer, Producer: Editor Jakob Skrzypa | Writer, Producer: Alexander Forman | DOP⁠

Cast

⁠Andrew Bee⁠ | Oliver Georgiou⁠ | Jessica Antovski⁠ |Rashaun Baldeo⁠ | Craig Gloster⁠ | Robert Kemeny⁠ | David Liebe Hart⁠ | Lloyd Kaufman ⁠

Our Links

🎧 S⁠⁠potify⁠⁠ 🍏 ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts ⁠⁠ 📸 ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ info@CadeandKit.com