O Vale dos Zombies

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And while there may be a number of outdated stereotypes (by today's standards) at work here especially in terms of the frantic female Nurse Susan Drake who is easily spooked and frightened leaning upon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.

The 40s weren't exactly known for high-quality genre fare, but there are always exceptions, and the premise here sounds interesting. I do rather think the telling here is troubled in at least some measure given instances of lagging pacing, a variable but often lighter tone, and ill-fitting wry humor (from bullying and ignorant police, naturally). On the other hand, those deeply unlikable cops are counterbalanced by the fabulous, combative wit of other characters, and the pacing and occasional tonal issues by tinges of atmosphere that the feature ably fosters. That atmosphere comes to us by way of smart use of lighting, the more haunting of those chords in the music, and Ian Keith's dramatic, imposing performance as the antagonist. It's still true that the horror 'Valley of the zombies' offers is more thematic than it is actualized, yet between Dorrell and Stuart E. McGowan's screenplay and Philip Ford's capable direction, this is sufficiently well made to rise a little bit above the more middling level of some of its contemporaries.

The darker notions in the storytelling and of the accompanying ambience are adjoined with broader airs of mystery as lab workers Terry and Susan seek to discover by themselves the truth surrounding recent murders. Usually I'd criticize the levity in the chief characters' dialogue as unbecoming of the nature of the material, nevermind how they are written (especially as Susan is a woman prone to jumping at her own shadow). I do think that holds true here to no small degree, and for the fact of it the resulting tableau will hold less appeal for genre purists, those who have a hard time engaging with older films, or those who look above all for visceral thrills in their horror. Yet the McGowans gave Robert Livingston and Adrian Booth some genuinely sharp and clever lines to impart as Terry and Susan, and overall I think the picture is just balanced enough so that the touches of comedy, the mystery, and the underlying horror concept all blend together fairly well - a balance which itself is sadly relatively rare in genre flicks from this timeframe.

The art direction is terrific; stunts and effects are modest by most any standards, but appreciable. Even sound effects are employed well, and the cinematography; other minutiae like costume design, hair, and makeup are just swell. The narrative is fundamentally solid, despite the details in its telling that weigh upon it to its detriment, and the same definitely goes for the scene writing. The horror vibes this has to offer may be less robust than in countless other examples among its brethren, yet they are present and meaningful nonetheless; one can easily imagine what 'Valley of the zombies' would look like if it were made at any point from the 60s or 70s onward. What we have here, then, is a movie that's ultimately very well written, and very well made by the standards of its timeframe. If the final product lacks the vibrancy of that genre enthusiasts are accustomed to it's only as a matter of the sensibilities by which such titles were once made, and not a specific failing on the part of anyone here. In fact, though it's no exemplar, I'm inclined to believe that this is one of the better horror films to have been released under the Hays Code.

It's not perfect, but it's duly engrossing, certainly entertaining, and unexpectedly satisfying. That's more than can be said of innumerable features even in all the decades since. Anyone who isn't receptive to the stylings of 40s cinema won't find anything here to change their minds, yet if you're open to all the wide possibilities of what the genre has to offer, there's much more to like here than it may seem at first blush. Don't necessarily go out of your way for 'Valley of the zombies,' but if you do have the chance to watch, this is actually well worth a mere fifty-six minutes of one's time, and I'm pleased to give it a firm recommendation.

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.

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.

After Dr. Rufus Maynard (Charles Trowbridge) is found murdered, Dr. Terry Evans (Robert Livingston) and his pretty nurse Susan Drake (Lorna Gray) turn amateur detective to prove their innocence. Their investigation leads them to the home of insane undertaker Ormand Murks (Ian Keith), who has used a voodoo potion to achieve immortality, but who requires a constant supply of blood to stay alive.

This cheapo B-movie could be accused of misleading the viewer: with just a passing mention of the titular valley and only one 'zombie'-- the very alive looking Murks -- its credentials as a living dead movie are extremely questionable. The film is actually more of a murder/mystery as Evans and Drake sleuth their way into danger, stumbling across assorted embalmed corpses and becoming trapped in a creepy old crypt (while narrowly avoiding being throttled by the villain's hand which emerges slowly from the shadows -- very Scooby Doo!). It's routine stuff but, at under an hour long, the film doesn't outstay its welcome, and Keith, as cape-swishing, cane-wielding Murks, makes for a wonderfully theatrical bad guy.

4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for the 'hilarious' closing gag.