Film Retrospective to Feature Four Cult Favorites

The 1963 cult favorite “The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies” is one of four films screening tonight at a retrospective for film makers Ray Dennis Steckler and Doris Wishman at the Four Star Theater in Los Angeles. The program, sponsored by Epics International and the Variety Arts Center begins at 7.

Kicking off the evening will be Wishman’s 1960 “Nude on the Moon,” followed by 1973’s “Deadly Weapons.” Steckler’s “Incredibly Strange Creatures” and “Thrill Killers” (a.k.a. “The Maniacs Are Loose!”), in which Steckler stars under the name Cash Flagg, will follow. Steckler and Wishman will be present to answer questions about their offbeat filmographies.

“Though I can’t quite imagine why anyone’s interested,” Wishman said from her home in Coral Gables, Fla. She said that the death of her husband 30 years ago prompted her to look for “something to fill my hours with.” So Wishman--who’d previously worked in distribution--decided she’d direct. “And I got the challenge I was looking for.”

Wishman--who declined to give her age--recently wrapped “A Night to Dismember.” Next up will be “Axe of Violence.”

Steckler’s films have been featured in a spate of recent festivals.

“They went crazy in San Francisco,” he said by phone from his Las Vegas home.

The 39-year-old film maker recently wrapped “Dark Alleys in a Well-Lit City” and “Las Vegas Serial Killer.” He’s putting finishing touches on 1972’s “Blood of the Ripper.”