Valley of the Zombies

Fondly remembered, just for the title. In the 70s it turned up a lot on weekends, and the later at night the better. Creature Feature or Chiller Theater time. A real gas.

A modest B film, basically what critics at the time said, but that's the key to its creepiness. Ian Keith, a veteran actor from the old school, makes an outstanding villain, in search of blood transfusions to keep himself alive. The cobwebs, an abandoned mansion and graveyard are also fun and put to good use. By the way, our heroes (Robert Livingston and Adrian Booth) are locked in a tomb for a ghoulish minute or two.

Keith plays Ormond Merks, executed years ago for past crimes, now looking for his next "blood" victim. More of a vampire-type film, and Keith keeps it going, replete with a long, black cape and the best lines. No valley or zombies, although he does hypnotize Booth and arm her with a gun. Sometimes compared to the RETURN OF DR. X (1939), starring Humphrey Bogart, though Bogey's makeup was more outlandish, also sporting a Bride of Frankenstein gray streak hairdoo.

Very good supporting cast featuring character actor Tommy Jackson playing the detective on the case. Robert "Bob" Livingston plays the two-fisted hero, known for westerns. Filmed by Republic Pictures and catch some of the area footage of surrounding Studio City (Ventura Blvd) and possibly North Hollywood back in the 40s.

Interestingly, Keith was originally considered for the role of DRACULA, before Bela Lugosi. Not too long after this film, he was considered again for the part in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.

Catch the closing gag line by Livingston said to gal friend Adrian Booth. Best dvd is coupled with THE VAMPIRES GHOST, released through Fast Fushion Films, and with some nice artwork. A super Halloween treat, though short running time at 56 minutes.

If you approach this looking for zombies, especially an whole valley full of 'em, you'll be sadly disappointed yet I can't help it...I like this short little movie just the same. Maybe it's the wonderful atmosphere this film has what with mysterious going ons in the night, graveyards and tombs figuring into the plot. Or maybe it's the old fashioned villain who truly looks like a fiendish fellow...Ian Keith as the thought to be dead Ormond Murks, who now needs the blood of the living to stay alive.

And while there may be a number of outdated stereotypes (by today's standards) at work here especially in terms of the frantic female Nurse Susan Drake who is easily spooked and frightened leaning upon the always steady and sure male Dr. Terrance Evans..still there's a certain innocence to this style of Horror which makes it fun...kind of hard to explain really. It's only being an hour long doesn't hurt either.

Well crafted little horror jaunt. Seems long dead Murks (Keith) won't stay dead, but he does need blood to keep frightening us viewers. I guess he must have had a zombie dad and a vampire mom, or some such. Anyhow he gets his needed red stuff from a doctor's office, which is fine until he stupidly throttles his supplier. Now he gets his stuff on the hoof, and our heroes Dr. Terry (Livingston) and Nurse Susan (Gray) better figure things out before he depopulates the studio of its supporting players.

I love that opening sequence, a really funny got'cha when the sheet's pulled back. Republic may have been at the bottom of the Hollywood studios, but it was at the top of the poverty row outfits, PRC, etc. So it's not surprising this horror quickie would be a little slicker than most. Happily, director Ford manages both atmosphere and pacing. The outdoor sets may be 3-feet deep, but they're still creepy. And catch the many snappy lines from our winsome Nurse Susan, especially when she and the doc are creeping through the forrest. Now, Keith really has the malevolent glower of a fiend, but his mugging at times borders on the ludicrous. I guess he needed a few more lessons from Karloff. Good also to see Livingston get off a horse (The Three Mesquiteers) and into a medical smock, of all things. All in all, the 57- minutes remains a cut above other quickies, without being anything special.

This is not your traditional zombie film - they do not mean "zombie" in the way we think film them in films. I won't tell for it would ruin the film. With this film think Jack the Ripper is a Vampire in a way... this one is really hard to describe, you would just have to see it for yourself.

Ian Keith as Ormand Murks is super! He reminds me a lot of Boris Karloff as Cabman John Gray in "The Body Snatcher (1945)" and, as I said, Jack the Ripper. Ormand Murks is right up there with them - he is a madman.

This is a really good late at night film - great atmosphere: graveyard, a madman on the loose, talk of an asylum, embalming... if you like the classic films with these things then you should enjoy this "Valley of the Zombies".

8/10

Valley of the Zombies (1946)

** (out of 4)

There is no valley and there are no zombies in this Republic Pictures horror flick that once again proves they certainly didn't know how to do the genre any service. In the film, Ormond Murks (Ian Keith) returns from the dead and needs plenty of blood to keep alive. A doctor (Robertin Livingston) and his nurse (Lorna Gray) get accused of one of the dead man's murders so they have to set out to clear their name and this is when they stumble across the living dead. I guess, to be fair, you could consider the murderer here a zombie but he actually plays out more like a vampire with his need for blood. It's also funny when you think that Keith was originally intended to play the title role in Universal's Dracula before the role eventually went to Bela Lugosi. As you'd expect, this "C" picture really doesn't have too much going in its favor but if you must see every zombie picture ever made then you might as well check this one out. I think the best thing you can say about the flick is that it runs a very short 55-minutes and it actually goes by rather fast. Director Ford at least keeps things moving well so the pacing never becomes an issue and at least he was smart enough not to wear out his welcome. The story itself is nothing special as we get one scene after another with the doctor and nurse trying to figure out what's going on even though the viewer was let in on the secret at the very start of the thing. The screenplay, being a Republic movie, offers up a wide range of events including a car chase, a gun fight and we even get a bunch of (bad) humor thrown in. Livingston and Gray are both fairly good in their parts but the same can't be said for Keith. He goes over the top so much that I'd compare his performance to what you'd expect to see from Tod Slaughter. VALLEY OF THE ZOMBIES is probably the rarest of the "zombie" films released after WHITE ZOMBIE and perhaps that's best as I'm sure most people are going to be disappointed with it. It's certainly far from a horrible movie but at the same time there's just really not much to it.