Back from the Dead

I am clad, that i found out about this movie, surprised it not got many comment on it

A newly married young woman, is possessed by the evil spirit of her husband's deceased first wife.

I really enjoy this movie, it not scary or creepy but some how this movie dose have eerie moments in places.

I really enjoyed the plot of the movie, the dose not take to long to get going , the movie flows really well.

There was not one dull second in this movie, it kept intrude from start to the very end!

The acting was really good from the whole cast but there were some very wooden acting from some of the cast members

7 out of 10

Having lost his first wife, "Felicia" (Peggy Castle) in a tragic drowning accident 6 years earlier, "Dick Anthony" (Don Haggerty) has recently remarried. However, when his new wife, "Mandy Hazelton" (also played by Peggy Castle) suddenly becomes ill and endures a strange seizure, she subsequently becomes possessed by the soul of Felicia. We soon find out that, prior to her death, Felicia began practicing "the dark arts" and, the deeper she got, the more wicked she became. And because she is so evil, both Dick and Mandy's sister "Kate Hazelton" (Marsha Hunt) soon begin looking for a way to bring Mandy back. Unfortunately, it is soon revealed that there are other people who feel differently about this situation--and they will stop at nothing to keep Felicia here. At any rate, rather than disclose any more of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this was a decent horror movie which managed to maintain the suspense right up until the end. Likewise, having an actress as stunning as Peggy Castle certainly didn't hurt the film either. In short, don't let the fact that this little-known picture is 57 years old or that it was filmed in black-and-white discourage you from watching it. It's a "diamond in the rough" and I recommend this movie to all of those who might appreciate a film of this nature. Slightly above average.

This is an eerie movie about someone who comes back from the dead to take over the body of someone else.

This was accomplished by practitioners of the black arts who wanted to bring the original person back to life.

The entire movie has a rather strange atmosphere due to the subject matter.

This is an interesting subject because it is probably possible. Usually the cases I've heard about was where someone becomes possessed by non human entities (The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, etc.).

Possibly more likely is the theory presented in the the movie 'Horror Hotel' where the satanic creatures are given many lifetimes by Satan.

Ultimately this is probably what satanism comes down to. A certain number of evil lifetimes in exchange for a soul.

It is thought provoking.

Jeff Marzano

Recommended further viewing:

Horror Hotel IT ! (The Terror From Beyond Space) Invasion Of The Saucer Men Not Of This Earth (original) The Blob (with Steve McQueen) The Brain That Wouldn't Die The Flesh Eaters The Fly / The Return Of The Fly / The Curse Of The Fly The Four Skulls Of Jonathan Drake The Hideous Sun Demon The Hypnotic Eye The Incredible Shrinking Man The Indestructible Man The Manster The Thing (from another world) The Thing That Couldn't Die The Twilight Zone Collections

1957's "Back from the Dead" paired Arthur Franz and Peggie Castle as husband and wife Dick and Mandy Anthony, accompanied by her sister Kate (Marsha Hunt) to his California seaside home because of Mandy's pregnancy. The raging sea offers little comfort to the apprehensive Mandy, something calling out to her before an epileptic seizure that causes an unfortunate miscarriage. She awakens to call her husband 'Dicken' and does not recognize her own sister, but when she refers to herself as 'Felicia' Dick recognizes her as his first wife, who was believed to have drowned six years earlier. Since he never once mentioned Felicia to his new wife it's a mystery as to what has occurred, and when she goes to see the dead woman's parents there can be no doubt that Felicia is indeed 'back from the dead.' The real star of the film is Marsha Hunt, easily out acting Franz and Castle, doggedly determined to free Mandy from the evil spell cast by local cult leader Maitre Renault (Otto Reichow), whose powers appear to be woefully inadequate if he's unable to dispatch the only person who's on to him. Virtually nothing is made of the Satanic cult, so it's less a case of "The Exorcist" than another run of the mill Bridey Murphy clone, reincarnation being such a hot topic at the time that author Catherine Turney only now was allowed to adapt her own 1952 novel into a sadly muddled script. Hunt herself correctly felt that it wasn't a good film but a solid premise that makes one stay tuned to see what happens; the main problem is that we never get to know the real Mandy before she's possessed by 'Felicia,' growing more predictable until the underwhelming climax. Double billed theatrically with "The Unknown Terror," another less than sturdy effort from Western specialist Charles Marquis Warren, both films quickly forgotten once TV residuals subsided.

There are shades of Noël Coward in this clever little mystery, and though the cast are all a bit wooden, it's not a bad low-budget effort. We start with a distracted "Miranda" (Peggie Castle) who is distressing her new husband "Dick" (Arthur Franz) by going into hysterics, a coma, then emerging claiming her name is "Felicia". Her sister "Kate" (Marsha Hunt) is even more bemused when she learns that was the name of his late wife. Is she just over-stressed or might she actually be being possessed by the returning spirit of the deceased woman whose death saw her fall from a cliff into the murky waters beneath. It turns out that the mother of "Felicia" is adept in the dark arts and so she (Helen Wallace) is all too willing to accept the story, but her husband (James Bell) is much more sceptical. Seeking clarity, they send for "Renault" (Otto Reichow) who lives locally and might have a solution to this messy psychological conundrum - though he's clearly not a man to be trusted, either! What is going on? With the scene set, this plays out quite intriguingly for a time and had the cast just been a little more robust, it could have been quite a bit better. The leading roles are pretty much all disappointingly underplayed: Reichow sounds like he could have a future career as Arnold Schwarzenegger's dialogue coach; and the standard of the production isn't really up to much with scenes clearly shot against backdrop cinematographers that aren't always as well synched as they might have been. It's still quite an exciting watch, though, and with a soundtrack straight out of the "Outer Limits" and even a secret doorway, it's not too bad at all.