Créature du diable

... and although that was probably not the intended lesson of this film, you've got to wonder why Dr. Lloyd Clayton would burn so much material belonging to his dead brother when he truly didn't understand the power that brother Elwyn had. With the "Dr." in front of his name you think he'd have more of an appreciation for the value of information. Brother Elwyn turns out to be a vampire in the untraditional sense. He dies and rises from the grave a vampire without having been made one by another vampire, and the recipe for this transformation is never made clear. Not to worry, though, because Elwyn has veteran vampire lackey Dwight Frye to serve him faithfully, here as the rather excitable Zolarr.

Also unlike other vampires, Elwyn just doesn't bite you and be done with it, he enjoys talking you to death - at least in the case of his brother Lloyd. Instead, at mealtime, Elwyn begins to slowly drain the blood and thus life from Dr. Clayton's ward, Gayle. Soon there are rumors among the townspeople that Dr. Lloyd Clayton is slowly poisoning Gayle so that he can usurp her inheritance. So if Elwyn is successful not only will Lloyd probably be hit with a murder charge, but ward Gayle will become one of the undead too. However can this mess be fixed with all of the answers to Lloyd's questions now in ashes? Watch and find out.

This is one of my favorite public domain horror films. The main problem with the film is that the elements survive in a rather washed out state being a bit hard on the eyes and the ears. However, if you can get past that and the low budget, the acting in this one is pretty good and the script is a good one with a bit of a twist on your traditional vampire tale. I recommend it.

I am a big fan of movies made in the 30's and 40's and as such I didn't find this film too bad.

This film cash's in on a very popular theme of the time, Zucco plays both the Vampire (Elwyn) and the likable Doctor (his brother). The contrast between Zucco's portrayal of the two characters is pretty good and is not really worthy of the bad acting classification given by the previous commentary.

Granted, it's slow and we have seen the plot a thousand times but if you are a fan you won't be too judgemental. You could see a lot worse. Give it a try.

George Zucco plays two brothers, one good, one evil. One is dead and one is undead. Good brother George killed bad brother George because he was in league with the devil. The problem is that evil henchman Dwight Frye knows what happens and he resurrected the evil brother in the form of a vampire to take revenge.

I really like this movie. Sure the pacing can be slow but any film with George Zucco in it can't be all bad (actually it can but its usually fun bad). This is the creaky old creepy mystery thrillers that they don't make any more with graveyards full of mist, dark shadows and vampires with fake teeth. Its a great deal of fun.

Granted if you're not an old movie fan, and need your horror in color and rapidly paced this movie probably isn't for you, but if you're in the mood for a good old horror movie and you're done with the Universal classics you really should give this a try.

Put me down in agreement with the reviewers here who enjoyed this film. No, it's certainly not remotely great and I have seen much better vampire flicks, but the terrific Zucco, decent writing, and competent acting from the rest of the cast make it slightly better than average.

In regard to Zucco, I have seen him in many films and he never fails to do a good job, regardless of what he has to work with. In this movie, he's the glue that holds this plot together from beginning to end. The way he makes the two brothers distinctive is to be lauded. Privately, he might have hated this genre of movie, but you wouldn't have known it from the gusto that he gives his dual role.

It's always good to see Dwight Frye, even though this wasn't his best performance. He played countless crazy or weird characters throughout his career, yet they usually differed due to his unique characterization he gave to each role.

Some here have complained about the sound and other defects in the quality of the film, which isn't fair since the vast majority of us have seen this film only from public domain copies. For example, the copies of "It's a Wonderful Life" that I saw as a kid weren't half the quality of the actual master that we now see around the holidays. Until a worthy copy shows up, I'll refrain making a judgment on that aspect of "Dead Men Walk."

All in all, the movie is entertaining. If you like horror movies from that era, you probably wont be disappointed.

During the funeral mass of Elwyn (George Zucco), the local Kate (Fern Emmett) accuses him of evilness. Later, his brother Dr. Lloyd Clayton (George Zucco) and tutor of his niece Gayle Clayton (Mary Carlisle) tells her and her fiancé Dr. David Bently (Nedrick Young) that his brother has become obsessed by mysticism and black magic since he traveled to India. During the night, Elwyn comes to Dr. Lloyd Clayton's house and accuses Dr. Clayton of pushing him in a cliff to die. Further, he tells Dr. Clayton that he will revenge, slowly killing Gayle and transforming her in a vampire. Dr. Clayton does not believe in what he has seen and heard, but when Gayle gets mysteriously sick and Dr. Clayton becomes the prime suspect of David and the locals, he finally accepts that his brother is a vampire and tries to find his coffin to destroy him.

"Dead Man Walk" is a creepy low-budget vampire movie visibly inspired in "Dracula", with a good story and acting. The cinematography of the DVD that I watched is a kind of blurred in the scenes in the cemetery, maybe because of a lighting problem in the shot, but the story is told in a dark atmosphere and I liked this underrated film. George Zucco has great performance in his double role. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Mortos Que Andam" ("Dead That Walk")