Dead Men Walk

George Zucco plays two brothers, one good, one evil. One is dead and one is undead. Good brother George killed bad brother George because he was in league with the devil. The problem is that evil henchman Dwight Frye knows what happens and he resurrected the evil brother in the form of a vampire to take revenge.

I really like this movie. Sure the pacing can be slow but any film with George Zucco in it can't be all bad (actually it can but its usually fun bad). This is the creaky old creepy mystery thrillers that they don't make any more with graveyards full of mist, dark shadows and vampires with fake teeth. Its a great deal of fun.

Granted if you're not an old movie fan, and need your horror in color and rapidly paced this movie probably isn't for you, but if you're in the mood for a good old horror movie and you're done with the Universal classics you really should give this a try.

Whenever I watch an old black and white horror movie, I always try to watch it in context of the time period. Some old movies seem kind of stupid 50 or 60 years later, but were actually pretty good at the time.

This is not one of them. Dead Men Walk is as pointless and boring a movie as I have ever seen. Besides the expected sub-par cinematography (couldn't anyone turn on a lamp, for god's sake?) and horrendous acting, the story itself was idiotic and the fact that 40 minutes of the 62-minute movie was devoted solely to keeping Elwyn the vampire away from his niece just makes it more idiotic.

I understand George Zucco had a reputation as a horror/mystery movie guy but he was the most un-frightening vampire I have ever come across in a movie. Dead Men Walk makes Return of the Vampire (1941) with Bela Lugosi seem like high art.

After watching Dead Men Walk, I had to watch Horror of Dracula with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing to remind myself that there are still come great vampire movies to see.

George Zucco, whom I had never heard of until now, stars as a kindly doctor and his evil twin brother who is hell-bent on Satan worship, and having a hunchback assistant (because you need that). His Satan-worship even seems to make him immune to death! You might not find some aspects of the film to be original. I mean, a hunchback? And the good twin and bad twin dichotomy? Nothing new there (though newer in 1943 than today). So put this one on the pile with all those other films...

But wait! Whoever provided the imagery really cared about the scenes they wanted to show. The opening is one of the more powerful scenes you'll find in a film of its era. A book called "History of Vampires" burns slowly in a fireplace (forshadowing the later destruction of the occult book collection) while a super-imposed face speaks to us from beyond the grave.

Yes, you'll have to be tolerant of older films with no color and the less technologically advanced filming procedures. If not, you might be snoozing in a matter of minutes. But true fans of the old days will enjoy this one and all the way to the end you may not be able to guess which brother - if either one - will survive this epic battle of good versus evil.

During the funeral mass of Elwyn (George Zucco), the local Kate (Fern Emmett) accuses him of evilness. Later, his brother Dr. Lloyd Clayton (George Zucco) and tutor of his niece Gayle Clayton (Mary Carlisle) tells her and her fiancé Dr. David Bently (Nedrick Young) that his brother has become obsessed by mysticism and black magic since he traveled to India. During the night, Elwyn comes to Dr. Lloyd Clayton's house and accuses Dr. Clayton of pushing him in a cliff to die. Further, he tells Dr. Clayton that he will revenge, slowly killing Gayle and transforming her in a vampire. Dr. Clayton does not believe in what he has seen and heard, but when Gayle gets mysteriously sick and Dr. Clayton becomes the prime suspect of David and the locals, he finally accepts that his brother is a vampire and tries to find his coffin to destroy him.

"Dead Man Walk" is a creepy low-budget vampire movie visibly inspired in "Dracula", with a good story and acting. The cinematography of the DVD that I watched is a kind of blurred in the scenes in the cemetery, maybe because of a lighting problem in the shot, but the story is told in a dark atmosphere and I liked this underrated film. George Zucco has great performance in his double role. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Mortos Que Andam" ("Dead That Walk")

This is a neat little picture. Period. Sure it has an incredibly low budget. Yep, it is dark and grainy. It sure does creak in some places too. But it has a couple of fine performances by George Zucco as twin brothers. One brother has killed his evil twin to rid the town of his malevolence. The dead brother returns, with the aid of a much older and very tired looking Dwight Frye, as a vampire out to avenge his death and destroy anything that matters to his brother. Zucco does fine in both roles. He makes probably the most urbane vampire in film. The budget really hurts as the vampire just fades out and in, but it also adds to the charm of this little studio film. Frye also does a decent job returning to a much more subdued Renfield-type role. The other actors are not that bad, and the story actually had me interested till the end. Fern Kemmett in particular gave a nice performance as a superstitious woman. Some shots in the film are very atmospheric. There is a great scene in a cemetery, and the finale was orchestrated quite well. The two Zuccos fight in flames as Dwight cries from under a very heavy marble altar. Great Stuff!