L'uomo senza corpo

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Edward Dein; Produced by Joseph Gershenson for Universal-International Pictures release. Screenplay by Edward and Mildred Dein; Photography by Ellis Carter; Edited by George Gittens; Music by Irving Gertz. Starring: Eric Fleming, Michael Pate, Kathleen Crowley, Edward Binns, John Hoyt, Bruce Gordon and Jimmy Murphy.

The first combo Western-horror film, in which a vampire, dressed in black, terrorizes the West in the guise of a gunfighter and is faced-down by an iron-willed man of the cloth. Transference of the vampire legend is well-done and Pate is exceptionally good as the fast-draw Drac.

The combining of westerns with horror has not always made for great films. I mean, who can forget "Billy the Kid vs. Dracula" and "Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter". The exception is "Curse of the Undead". This 1959 picture stars Eric Fleming as a frontier preacher who is confronted with a vampire in the form of a hired gun, portrayed with sinister, yet sympathetic overtones by Michael Pate.

The plot has some holes in it. For example, Michael Pate's character commits suicide after murdering his brother, which in turn condemns him for all eternity as a vampire...I mean, I have never heard of this premise for a person becoming one of the "undead". Also, the vampire of this movie can walk around in the daylight with seemingly no ill effects, and everyone knows that vampires absolutely cannot be exposed to sunlight, or they will be destroyed.

Despite these minor flaws, the movie actually has a good story and some good acting by Fleming as the preacher, Pate as the vampire/gunslinger, and Kathleen Crowley as the love interest caught between the two. I highly recommend this movie.

I was just a kid when I saw this so, my memory could be shading my judgment. However, after viewing some of the "Highlander" TV series, this western is along the lines of a tale told in flashback about an immortal who lived through the time of the old west. In the case of this film, the immortal happens to be a vampire. What a great gig for a vampire--be THE best gunslinger in the west. Even if you are a slow draw, you can never lose.

I also was impressed with the use of a preacher as the protagonist. I remember a very positive portrayal. I haven't too much a memory about the acting, though. A good gage would be to conjure up memories of the lead actor when he played Gil Favor the trail boss on TV's "Rawhide."

CURSE OF THE UNDEAD is a vampire western, complete with victims drained of blood and plenty of atmospheric woo-woo music. It's sort of like watching a typical TV western from the period, with the vampire elements added for fun. Does it work? Well, yes.

It's obvious who the bloodsucker is early on, since he sits on his horse mysteriously, and said horse moves in slow-motion. He's a gunslinger named Drake Robey (Michael Pate), who just happens to sleep in a coffin. When local woman Dolores Carter (Kathleen Crowley) offers a reward for the death of whomever murdered her father, Robey shows up, in spite of the fact that dad had a few familiar holes in his neck. Once in town, Robey runs afoul of the local preacher (Eric Fleming), setting up a true good vs. eeevil showdown.

This movie has a nice backstory, explaining Robey's accursed origin. Though there have been other such "crossover" films, this is certainly one of the best...

This western is one of the strangest in movie history and its weirdness is only surpassed by the infamous "Terror of Tiny Town"-- the first (and only) all-midget western! After all, this is a western about...VAMPIRES!!!

When the film begins, there is the usual sort of plot--a local baddie is trying to take control of surrounding ranches. However, what you come to realize is that that potential range war is actually being orchestrated by a third party. Drake Robey is in actuality a vampire and is using his vampirey skills to create chaos. However, along the way he finds himself falling for a local hottie. The only thing standing between her is the local preacher...the only one who has learned Robey's dark secret.

This is just one strange mash-up--vampires AND cowboys! Strange...but also reasonably interesting and worth seeing despite a few actors who aren't exactly talented. See this one...just to see one of the most unique films to come out of Hollywood.