L'ombra che cammina

Eerie, creepy, beautifully shot oddity, the kind of stuff they just wouldn't know how to make any more (not that they would want to). Karloff gives a fine performance as the gaunt, haunted patsy in a murder rap. Stand-out scene is definitely the fantastic build up to Karloff's undeserved execution, as sad cello music plays and prison guards banter about baseball while a man's life hangs in the balance. The ideas dry up a bit as King Karloff haunts his killers, but his sinister solemnity captivates the interest, and it's all crammed into little more than an hour.

Excellent little horror film directed by the amazingly talented Michael Curtiz, the same man who would later give up Casablanca amongst many other classic films.

The story is a genre mashup of gangster and horror and at only about 1 hour 5 minutes, there isn't much time to lag. With such a skilled eye behind the camera, we are treated to a film that does not bore.

Boris Karloff is the star and he does such a great job of bringing fright to the picture. For someone interested in the acting of Karloff or the films of Curtiz, this is a must see!

7.0 / 10

--A Kat Pirate Screener

I have to agree with those who consider Karloff an underrated actor. Given the nature of this film and its fantastic premise, he brings a real subtlety to the role. After each of his antagonists meet their untimely demise, there is just a hint of remorse and sadness. Who else in the horror genre would have underplayed it like that? Karloff becomes the walking conscience of his tormentors and apart from the films failings regarding plot, effects etc., I think it works quite nicely on the level of allegory.

Dispersed throughout the Universal reign of horror in the thirties came several remarkably well-made MGM and Warner Brother horror films. The Walking Dead is one such film produced by Warner Bros. that mixes their predominant genre of expertise, the gangster film, with the horror film. You might say in a way that it is a blend of reality and the supernatural. This film has stood the test of time well, and is a nice, taut story of a man wrongly accused of a crime, miraculously brought back to life, and eventually seeking vindication and justice from those that did him wrong. Karloff is a masterful lead in that he is able to frighten us and exact from us a tremendous amount of pity and understanding. In point of fact, his characterization of Ellman is one of his most powerful and sympathetic, a true tragic hero toyed with by crime bosses and a corrupt lawyer. Most of the acting beyond Karloff is rather pedestrian, with Edmund Gwenn turning in a nice portrayal of a questioning scientist and Ricardo Cortez wonderfully playing the stereotypical slimy lawyer. Curtiz does a good job of direction and lighting and shading are used to almost perfect results. A must see for the classic horror buff!

It's a dead man walking in this film with Boris Karloff brought back to life by a doctor (Edmund Gwenn - Miracle on 34th Street).

There was no surprises as I would have expected, as the reanimation was posted all over the newspapers the next day.

It's not just a horror film, but a gangster film, as Ellman (Karloff) was executed for a crime he didn't commit.

It was really funny when he went after those involved in the conspiracy to frame him. A little supernatural work on a lot of guilty consciences.

It was a fascinating film, and Gwenn was superb. Karloff was also very good.