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Dead Men Walk

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I'm a big George Zucco fan. Zucco brought class and a unique presence to many a B movie of the 1930s and 1940s, and Dead Men Walk actually gives you two George Zuccos for the price of one. Yes, Zucco stars in a dual role as the kindly Dr. Lloyd Clayton and his evil brother Elwyn. Some accuse Zucco of being too theatrical, but I think his performance is basically that of a consummate stage actor who just happens to be working in film. His manner and aristocratic voice inspire confidence in the viewer - even when he is talking about a subject such as vampires. Speaking of vampires - and, yes this is a vampire film - Dead Men Walk takes an unusual approach to the subject, one hearkening back to the days of old rather than transplanting a Count Dracula clone into the story.

Elwyn Clayton is dead, and no one seems too upset about his passing, including his identical twin brother Lloyd. By all accounts, Elwyn was a malevolent man who became as a man possessed after devoting himself to the study of the dark arts. One old lady enters the church and pretty much calls him out during his own funeral. Lloyd, for his part, hurries to burn his brother's papers and thus put an absolute end to his evil existence. Imagine his surprise when his brother suddenly appears to him in his study soon thereafter, filling the audience in on how he really died and promising Lloyd all sorts of torment from this point on. It seems Elwyn has learned how to conquer death; he has, in essence, become a vampire.

Lloyd's niece Gayle (Mary Carlisle) soon begins suffering a mysterious ailment that leaves her weaker by the day, and Lloyd eventually begins to think his mind wasn't playing tricks on him after all when his brother appeared to him - Elwyn, as impossible as it seems, actually is alive (or at least not dead). Naturally, Lloyd initially keeps this information to himself, fearing no one will believe him. His niece's fiancé, David (Nedrick Young), actually comes to suspect Lloyd of secretly trying to kill Gayle, the townspeople start itching for some good old-fashioned pitchfork-wielding mob activity, and Lloyd is at his wit's end - while Elwyn is having a grand old time drinking blood and taunting his brother. Lloyd's only hope is to find Elwyn's coffin and destroy him once and for all.

We don't get to see any blood in this film, but the special effects are quite impressive for a low-budget, mid-40s release. It's also something of a treat to see Dwight Frye (forever known as Dracula's wild-eyed helper, Renfield) in one of his final roles (he died several months after completing this film). Zucco really carries the movie, though, as the other players (excepting Frye, of course) are really quite anemic when it comes to charisma. Zucco excels in his portrayal of Lloyd, but he also makes for a quietly menacing Elwyn, a vampire character who is undeniably evil but cut from a very different cloth than Legosi's Dracula. I think Dead Men Walk is really an impressive little film. It only runs sixty-two minutes, but it's definitely worth seeking out (thus proving that PRC - the much-maligned studio behind many a low-budget stinker - didn't always stand for "Pretty Rotten Crap").

Once upon a time, it was common for movie theaters to have Saturday matinees which consisted of 90 minute programs. Each program would include a cartoon or two, one or two short films, a chapter in a serial and the like. The centerpiece of the program would be a "feature" flick that was only about an hour or so long. These shows were always low budget B movies. One such B movie is the horror flick at hand, 1943's Dead Men Walk.

Dead Men Walk, which is set in the days of the Model T, opens with a funeral for the deceased Dr. Elwyn Clayton who as it turns out was killed by his brother Dr. Lloyd Clayton (both played by George Zucco). Turns out that Elwyn was messing around in black magic and had become a servant of Satan and Lloyd had to kill him to protect the town. Only problem is that unbeknownst to Lloyd, Satan has arranged for Elwyn to become a vampire.

However there is a local lady, Kate (Fern Emmett) who is on to the fact that Elwyn is still afflicting mankind. Most of the townsfolk think that Kate is kind of crazy, but Lloyd knows that she is knowledgeable about the dark forces. Lloyd also knows that Kate is the only other person in town who was aware of Elwyn's evility and of the fact that Lloyd was responsible for Elwyn's death. He respects Kate and for that reason comes on guard for the return of Elwyn now that Elwyn's corpse has been formally buried.

Meanwhile, Elwyn is not wasting any time since his burial and his subsequent becoming a vampire. He arranges for his servant in evility, Zolarr (Dwight Frye) to move his remains so that nobody gets any fancy ideas about destroying his corpse and hence end his existence in the world of neither the living or the dead. Additionally, Elwyn hatches a scheme where he will prevent Lloyd's daughter Gayle from getting married to her beloved Dr. David Bently (Nedrick Young).

Elwyn begins a series of nightly visits to the sleeping Gayle as if once is not enough and bites her in the neck each time in the same precise spot. He also visits his brother Lloyd who responds by attempting to shoot Elwyn with a gun even though Lloyd surely would have known that vampires cannot be killed by gunfire. For some strange reason, Elwyn does not even so much as attempt to bite Lloyd.

On one day, Kate discovers where Zolarr has hidden Elwyn's corpse and opens it so that sunlight strikes it. Now, according to vampire lore, the sunlight is supposed to turn the body to dust thus killing Elwyn, but all the sunlight does is strike Elwyn's corpse just as it would any old corpse. Shortly thereafter, Zolarr catches sight of Kate and kills her offstage. When her corpse is discovered, the frightened local folk form a vigilante group and go off on a rampage. All this sets the stage for an interesting ending.

Dead Men Walk is a hard flick to grade. On the one hand, the acting of George Zucco as Lloyd, Fern Emmett and Dwight Frye is well above the call of duty. On the other hand, George Zucco as the evil Elwyn, Mary Carlisle and Nedrick Young is of low grade. Zucco makes for a particularly unfrightening vampire. The scenes of the misty graveyard and shadowy nights are genuinely spooky, but the film's ignorance of Vampire lore is inexplicable.

Evil Dr. Elwyn Clayton has passed on. Well, we sure thought he passed on. After all, there was a funeral, a coffin, which went into the ground, and the relatives divvied up the goodies. You would have thought that evil Dr. Elwyn Clayton was dead. But no, just like any other relative who has overstayed their welcome, Dr. Elwyn Clayton refuses to stay dead. Well, he refuses to stay in the ground. Dr. Elwyn Clayton has decided that he must stay alive...er...undead, and haunt his nice brother Dr. Lloyd Clayton (both Dr. Claytons are played by George Zucco, who later appeared in "David and Bathsheba" and "Captain from Castile," among many other films), and attractive young niece Gayle Clayton (Mary Carlisle, in her final film role; she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame).

I pause for a brief aside. Evil Dr. Elwyn Clayton is really evil. He keeps telling kindly Dr. Lloyd Clayton how he is going to turn niece Gayle Clayton into a vampire and she will be at his beck and call forever. This guy is not only evil, but perverted!

Kindly Dr. Lloyd Clayton has a bit of a trust issue with just about everyone, except niece Gayle. Gayle's love interest, Dr. David Bently (Nedrick Young, in his first role; he appeared in another two dozen plus movies before his untimely death in 1968), thinks kindly Dr. Lloyd Clayton is out to kill Gayle, only David is not sure how he is doing it.

The rest of the movie involves seeing evil Dr. Clayton running about trying to show how clever he is and kindly Dr. Clayton attempting to thwart evil Dr. Clayton. It is all in good fun and enjoyable if you are a fan of classic horror movies.

A couple other characters in this movie are worthy of note. This movie would not be a real vampire movie without the addition of Dwight Frye as the vampire's sidekick Zolarr. Frye brought Renfield to life in the original "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi. He also played in "The Vampire Bat" and an array of other movies until his untimely death in 1943. Another interesting character actor is Fern Emmett as crazy Kate. Fern played in more than 200 roles in her 50 year career.

Several other character actors have numerous film credits that I leave to the viewer to investigate further. Among them are Robert Strange, who appeared in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945) along with more than 70 other films, Hal Price, with at least 270 film and television appearances, which included "The Lone Ranger" and "The Roy Rogers Show," and Sam Flint, with more than 300 film and television roles, the last of which was in the 1968 Monkee film "Head."

When you watch an old horror movie you never know what you are going to see. I enjoyed this movie. Dr. Elwyn Clayton became a vampire by studying arcane books and scrolls rather than being bitten by a creature with suspect oral hygiene. Having the same actor portray the vampire and his good brother was interesting too, though I was a little slow to pick up on the similarity between brothers, partially because of the quality of the picture.

Speaking of picture quality, it was generally good, but some of the night scenes were a bit too dark. I also thought the sound was muddy in places, but I could tell what everyone was saying.

I think fans of classic vampire movies will find this one an interesting addition to their collection. This movie has enough unique aspects to it that compensate periodically for occasional weakness in the acting and the problems that old movies have with sound and picture. If you are not a fan of classic horror or classic vampire movies, you will probably want to pass this one by.

Good luck!

George Zucco gets what may be his best "poverty row" horror role as a doctor who must contend with his nasty vampire brother who is out to torment him. Dwight "Renfield" Frye is along for the ride as the evil brother's assistant and adds to the creepy mood of the piece. Some of the other actors are pretty bland, but George and Dwight keeps things moving. There is some very creepy and effective photography in this film which is surprising for such a low budget. All in all, this is not as bad as some "critics" claim and actually one of the better "poverty row" horror flicks of the 40's. Recommended.

George Zucco has become almost as entertaining for me to watch as Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, and Bela Lugosi. He was a British Born, stage-trained actor who could ham it up if need be, like Price, or tone it down to play subdued, clever, sympathetic characters. He played quite a few mad scientists and super villians, but also complex, almost Bogart-style anti-heroes, in such films as "Fog Island" and "The Black Raven". In this low budget vampire tale he gets a chance to play the range from darkest evil to saintly savior.

In duel roles, Zucco plays both the kindly, almost saintly Doctor Clayton, who's brother (also Zucco), has died and we find at the very start of the film that he was a dispicable human being who played with witchcraft and satanic rituals. After dying, he is resurrected as a vampire, due to his allegience to satan, and begins taking revenge on his hated, saintly brother by trying to turn Dr. Clayton's niece into a vampire. The small town the doctor is revered in begins to suspect the good doctor of recent murders, and even his associate, a young doctor who is engaged to Dr. Clayton's victimized niece believes he is insane and covering up murders by claiming his brother is back from the grave. Handling the film elements deftly, Director Sam Newfield gives Zucco the chance to play a very Van Helsing-like character, and you are obviously meant to connect with the original Univeral "Dracula" film. Even Dwight Frye shows up here as the mad survent who protects the Dracula-esqe brother, calling him "Master", as he did Lugosi in the original "Dracula".

The movie is fairly well paced and atmospheric. Zucco is believable in both roles and the rest of the cast does a very good job of supporting him. The movie has a certain Universal Studios feel to it, and a bit of campiness that only adds to the enjoyment. This dvd by DIGIVIEW is a decent transfer. I don't know how it compares to the release by Alpa Video, but most of the movie is fairly sharp and has decent contrast. There are only a few night time scenes that suffer, but even these are better than some of the other low-budget dvds I've seen of George Zucco films, such as "Fog Island". For the low-low price, I would not hesitate to get this little gem of a movie. If you like vampire movies from the golden era of Hollywood, this one stands up nicely.

George Zucco shines in a dual role as both Dr. Lloyd Clayton and his evil twin brother Elwyn. Dr. Clayton killed Elwyn in self-defense and must face an undead version of his wicked sibling, who is now a vampire seeking to kill his own daughter Gayle (Mary Carlisle). Dwight Frye (Dracula, Frankenstein) is his old weird self as Zolarr, Elwyn's servant. Can Dr. Clayton kill his brother a second time before he fulfills his nefarious scheme? Watch and see! Recommended for those who love movies about vampires, sorcerers, black magic, occult, etc...

This is the tale of two brothers, Dr. Lloyd Clayton and Dr. Elwyn Clayton (George Zucco). The two brothers hated each other for many years which culminated in a small tussle on a Cliff. Elwyn went over by accident, yeah sure. But unimagined by brother Lloyd, Elwyn was in cahoots with dark forces. His tombstone should have read "I'll be back".

Yep Elwyn returns and must have watched every vampire movie as a kid since he must now been to all the standard vampire rules. With the assistance of his hunchbacked sidekick Zolarr (Dwight Frye) he will now get is revenge by depriving his brother of everything. The best place to start is sucking on the niece Gayle Clayton (Mary Carlisle).

Meanwhile the village mob running in with torches and ropes has decide the Dr. Lloyd Clayton is having his way with them and bumping off old ladies on the side.

This was a surprisingly good film as we all know that George Zucco can look maniacal. Who suspected that he could play the sucker?

The Mummy's Ghost [VHS]

Laying your deceased twin brother to rest should normally be an emotional and trying affair. Of course, if you're George Zucco, almost nothing in life, or death, is ever considered normal. Like the cause of his brother's death by way of murder from our surviving sibling, for example. Or the stacks of books he had collected and studied over the years concerning witchcraft, vampirism, sorcery and demonology. However, when you have such knowledge of the supernatural and a faithful, hunchbacked assistant (Dwight Frye, no less!) willing to unearth your coffin and allow you to come back from the grave to exact a bloodthristy revenge, perhaps the loss of earthly life and a few material items can be considered expendable. An enjoyable variation of the vampire genre from PRC (one of the better known "poverty row" production companies of the day) with crisp dialogue from Fred Myton's screenplay. Zucco may not be the ideal vampire, but he was an ideal horror film actor and this dual role performance was possibly his finest hour. 8/10

This is the tale of two brothers, Dr. Lloyd Clayton and Dr. Elwyn Clayton (George Zucco). The two brothers hated each other for many years which culminated in a small tussle on a Cliff. Elwyn went over by accident, yeah sure. But unimagined by brother Lloyd, Elwyn was in cahoots with dark forces. His tombstone should have read "I'll be back".

Yep Elwyn returns and must have watched every vampire movie as a kid since he must now been to all the standard vampire rules. With the assistance of his hunchbacked sidekick Zolarr (Dwight Frye) he will now get is revenge by depriving his brother of everything. The best place to start is sucking on the niece Gayle Clayton (Mary Carlisle).

Meanwhile the village mob running in with torches and ropes has decide the Dr. Lloyd Clayton is having his way with them and bumping off old ladies on the side.

This was a surprisingly good film as we all know that George Zucco can look maniacal. Who suspected that he could play the sucker?

The Mummy's Ghost [VHS]

This is the tale of two brothers, Dr. Lloyd Clayton and Dr. Elwyn Clayton (George Zucco). The two brothers hated each other for many years which culminated in a small tussle on a Cliff. Elwyn went over by accident, yeah sure. But unimagined by brother Lloyd, Elwyn was in cahoots with dark forces. His tombstone should have read "I'll be back".

Yep Elwyn returns and must have watched every vampire movie as a kid since he must now been to all the standard vampire rules. With the assistance of his hunchbacked sidekick Zolarr (Dwight Frye) he will now get is revenge by depriving his brother of everything. The best place to start is sucking on the niece Gayle Clayton (Mary Carlisle).

Meanwhile the village mob running in with torches and ropes has decide the Dr. Lloyd Clayton is having his way with them and bumping off old ladies on the side.

This was a surprisingly good film as we all know that George Zucco can look maniacal. Who suspected that he could play the sucker?

The Mummy's Ghost [VHS]