MOVIES - April 19, 1988

Members of the Duck’s Breath Mystery Theater comedy troupe were only trying to lampoon Japanese horror flicks when they came up with the title “Zarda, Cow From Hell” for their new movie, about to start filming in Iowa City, Iowa. However, the title for the tale of a giant, demonic bovine went over like a can of sour milk with Ben Zarda, who owns the Zarda Dairy in Shawnee, Kan. The company learned of Zarda--the dairy--from Robert C. Hughes, the director and a Kansas City, Kan., native: “We took the name out of the blue. We wanted it to sound like a Japanese horror movie. It was supposed to be a nonsensical name.” The Zarda people however, decided that they’d rather that Duck’s Breath come up with another name. “It’s unfortunate because we’d grown attached to it,” said executive producer Scott Smith, who added the group would come up with “something equally Japanese horror movie-like, something like Zorka.”