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Dead Men Walk by Sam Newfield
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Dwight Frye, Fern Emmett, George Zucco, Mary Carlisle, Nedrick Young Director: Sam Newfield Brand: ZUCCO,GEORGE Cinematographer: Jack Greenhalgh Editor: Holbrook N. Todd Producer: Sigmund Neufeld Writer: Fred Myton DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language) Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 64 minutes DVD Release Date: 2002-08-27 Audience Rating: Unrated Studio: Alpha Video
Movie Reviews of Dead Men WalkMovie Review: 1940's Horror B Feature Flick Summary: 4 Stars
Once upon a time, it was common for movie theaters to have Saturday matinees which consisted of 90 minute programs. Each program would include a cartoon or two, one or two short films, a chapter in a serial and the like. The centerpiece of the program would be a "feature" flick that was only about an hour or so long. These shows were always low budget B movies. One such B movie is the horror flick at hand, 1943's Dead Men Walk.
Dead Men Walk, which is set in the days of the Model T, opens with a funeral for the deceased Dr. Elwyn Clayton who as it turns out was killed by his brother Dr. Lloyd Clayton (both played by George Zucco). Turns out that Elwyn was messing around in black magic and had become a servant of Satan and Lloyd had to kill him to protect the town. Only problem is that unbeknownst to Lloyd, Satan has arranged for Elwyn to become a vampire.
However there is a local lady, Kate (Fern Emmett) who is on to the fact that Elwyn is still afflicting mankind. Most of the townsfolk think that Kate is kind of crazy, but Lloyd knows that she is knowledgeable about the dark forces. Lloyd also knows that Kate is the only other person in town who was aware of Elwyn's evility and of the fact that Lloyd was responsible for Elwyn's death. He respects Kate and for that reason comes on guard for the return of Elwyn now that Elwyn's corpse has been formally buried.
Meanwhile, Elwyn is not wasting any time since his burial and his subsequent becoming a vampire. He arranges for his servant in evility, Zolarr (Dwight Frye) to move his remains so that nobody gets any fancy ideas about destroying his corpse and hence end his existence in the world of neither the living or the dead. Additionally, Elwyn hatches a scheme where he will prevent Lloyd's daughter Gayle from getting married to her beloved Dr. David Bently (Nedrick Young).
Elwyn begins a series of nightly visits to the sleeping Gayle as if once is not enough and bites her in the neck each time in the same precise spot. He also visits his brother Lloyd who responds by attempting to shoot Elwyn with a gun even though Lloyd surely would have known that vampires cannot be killed by gunfire. For some strange reason, Elwyn does not even so much as attempt to bite Lloyd.
On one day, Kate discovers where Zolarr has hidden Elwyn's corpse and opens it so that sunlight strikes it. Now, according to vampire lore, the sunlight is supposed to turn the body to dust thus killing Elwyn, but all the sunlight does is strike Elwyn's corpse just as it would any old corpse. Shortly thereafter, Zolarr catches sight of Kate and kills her offstage. When her corpse is discovered, the frightened local folk form a vigilante group and go off on a rampage. All this sets the stage for an interesting ending.
Dead Men Walk is a hard flick to grade. On the one hand, the acting of George Zucco as Lloyd, Fern Emmett and Dwight Frye is well above the call of duty. On the other hand, George Zucco as the evil Elwyn, Mary Carlisle and Nedrick Young is of low grade. Zucco makes for a particularly unfrightening vampire. The scenes of the misty graveyard and shadowy nights are genuinely spooky, but the film's ignorance of Vampire lore is inexplicable.
Summary of Dead Men WalkNo Description Available. Genre: Horror Rating: NR Release Date: 27-AUG-2002 Media Type: DVD
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