Dead Men Walk (1943)

To me, this movie is perfection.

People are voting emotionally.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

PRC cheapie about a small-town doctor whose devil-worshipping twin brother is killed, only to come back from the dead hellbent on revenge. George Zucco plays both parts and does a great job. He brings some much-needed class to an otherwise shoddy Poverty Row production. That isn't to say it's a bad movie. It all depends on your expectations, really. It's hard sometimes to judge these old cheapies, as most of the available prints today are in bad shape with a lot of audio hiss and poor picture quality. If you're a fan of George Zucco, I doubt you'll be disappointed. Dwight Frye has a small Renfieldesque part. He's enjoyable as always. This is also the final film of Mary Carlisle. It's a nice unassuming little vampire movie. Slow-going but watchable. Love the opening.

... and although that was probably not the intended lesson of this film, you've got to wonder why Dr. Lloyd Clayton would burn so much material belonging to his dead brother when he truly didn't understand the power that brother Elwyn had. With the "Dr." in front of his name you think he'd have more of an appreciation for the value of information. Brother Elwyn turns out to be a vampire in the untraditional sense. He dies and rises from the grave a vampire without having been made one by another vampire, and the recipe for this transformation is never made clear. Not to worry, though, because Elwyn has veteran vampire lackey Dwight Frye to serve him faithfully, here as the rather excitable Zolarr.Also unlike other vampires, Elwyn just doesn't bite you and be done with it, he enjoys talking you to death - at least in the case of his brother Lloyd. Instead, at mealtime, Elwyn begins to slowly drain the blood and thus life from Dr. Clayton's ward, Gayle. Soon there are rumors among the townspeople that Dr. Lloyd Clayton is slowly poisoning Gayle so that he can usurp her inheritance. So if Elwyn is successful not only will Lloyd probably be hit with a murder charge, but ward Gayle will become one of the undead too. However can this mess be fixed with all of the answers to Lloyd's questions now in ashes? Watch and find out.This is one of my favorite public domain horror films. The main problem with the film is that the elements survive in a rather washed out state being a bit hard on the eyes and the ears. However, if you can get past that and the low budget, the acting in this one is pretty good and the script is a good one with a bit of a twist on your traditional vampire tale. I recommend it.

Low budget chiller directed by Sam Newfeld. Veteran actor George Zucco stars as twin brothers: Dr. Lloyd Clayton, a well respected physician, and Dr. Elwyn Clayton, who has been discretely pushed off a cliff because of his deep involvement in the occult sciences. Lloyd begins burning his brothers books on the dark arts knowing that Elwyn always despised him and wanted him discredited. Elwyn's faith in his occult studies enables him to come back to haunt Lloyd. Better yet, he sets out seeking revenge by sucking the blood of his pretty niece Gayle(Mary Carlisle). Just the visions of the walking dead Elwyn in this B&W horror flick is creepy. The short scenes in the graveyard are atmospheric deserving kudos for cinematographer Jack Greenhalgh. If you love the oldies, this will be 64 minutes of fun. Other players: Dwight Frye, Fern Emmett, Nedrick Young and Forrest Taylor.

Dead Men Walk" is a solid, if unspectacular, vampire film.**SPOILERS**Following the death of his twin brother, Dr. Lloyd Clayton, (George Zucco) buries him amongst speculation that he was a raving madman by the townspeople. Caught snooping through his brother's affairs by his assistant Zolarr, (Dwight Frye) he is later seen in the cemetery resurrecting Dr. Elwyn Clayton, (George Zucco) who comes back as a murderous vampire. As a series of vicious murders begins plaguing the town, he discovers that his brother has indeed returned from the dead to stalk his daughter Gayle, (Mary Carlisle) and she is soon under his spell. Finding the source of his powers to be Black Magic, Lloyd and Gayle's beau, Dr. David Bently, (Nedrick Young) race to stop him before his plans of revenge are fulfilled.The Good News: This here wasn't that bad. When it tried to be, there was plenty of atmospheric shots that were just fabulous. The early shot, where the coffin is being removed from the graveyard, with the fog slowly closing in and covering the figures, leaving only the outlines to waft through the scene, is inspired and quite striking. The film also has some really spine-tingling moments, where the vampire materializes out of nowhere and appears in front of people, often times appearing through the background like a shadow, and they are handled flawlessly and come off even today. For such a short film, there's also the traditional scenes and ideas from past vampire films, including the initially skeptical fiancée, the helpless local cop, the mad woman who knows the truth, the irate and skeptical villagers, the hunchback acolyte, and a rampant mob seeking to deal harshly with the good doctor under the belief that he is the killer. While clichéd, these offer a sense of familiarity that the rest of the film fails to offer. The climactic fire to reduce everything to victorious, but tragic, ashes is an effective action set-piece, being an effective end to send the film out on a high point. While derivative, this wasn't exactly torturous.The Bad News: There really wasn't a whole lot to dislike in this one. Most of it comes the fact that the movie does not follow conventional vampire lore, as the brother becomes a vampire through the use of black magic rather than the more commonly associated means. While not bad, the fact that it does tamper with convention doesn't really give more of a vampire feel, making it seem more like a curse inflicted upon a normal person rather than a being that preys upon us. That also makes us fear the main vampire far less than in most cases, a serious detriment in such a short film. The only other main problem with the film is it's extreme predictability. The presence of so many vampire traditions and sequences means that it's just a matter of time before the next item on the checklist is marked off, giving this a really easy plot to follow through with the ending that can be seen coming from the opening minutes. While not a dangerous threat to the film, by making it so predictable is to really squeeze most of the fear and tension out of the film, leaving it to coast on the strength of it's set-pieces. That is not a good case for a film to do. But these are easily overlooked.The Final Verdict: With a few flaws that can be easily overlooked for some, this is actually one of the more solid B-films from the time-period. It's not earth-shattering, but if given a chance, it can provide some entertainment value, so give it a shot. It's short time may hinder most of it's problems.Today's Rating-PG: Mild Violence