I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

As I have written elsewhere, the history of the 1940s horror film can practically be summarized with two words: Universal and Lewton. But while Universal Studios was busily churning out its remarkable run of Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolf Man and Invisible Man films during that decade, and producer Val Lewton over at RKO was turning out some of the most artfully done horror films of all time (such as "Cat People" and "I Walked With a Zombie"), some of the other, lesser studios in Hollywood were coming out with their own shuddery fare, as well. Case in point: PRC, short for Producers Releasing Corp., a so-called "Poverty Row" outfit that specialized in B films meant to appear as the lesser attraction of double features. The studio came out with all manner of films during the '40s--their most famous films perhaps being "The Devil Bat," featuring Bela Lugosi, the truly one-of-a-kind film noir "Detour," and "The Brute Man," the final film featuring the acromegalic Rondo Hatton--and in February '43 released the picture in question here, "Dead Men Walk." In this film, the great English actor George Zucco (who has been very accurately described by writer David Quinlan as "the Boris Karloff of the B feature") plays two very different roles: mild-mannered Dr. Lloyd Clayton and his evil twin brother, Elwyn, a Satanist of sorts who has just died and whose funeral we witness in the film's opening scene. Elwyn's hunchbacked assistant, Zolarr (Dwight Frye, here in one of his last roles), accuses the good doctor of having murdered his master, but whether or not that deed was done in self-defense or not is something that the film does not divulge. As it turns out, however, you just cannot keep a good Satanist down, and before very long, Elwyn is seen arising from his coffin, having been somehow transformed into a vampire of sorts; a being who sleeps by day in his coffin and arises at night to feed on the blood of the living. And what a toothsome morsel he happens to set his fangs on: Dr. Lloyd's pretty young niece, Gayle (played by Mary Carlisle, in her final film). Thus, it is up to the good doctor, as well as Gayle's fiancé Dr. Bently (Nedrick Young, the future co-screenwriter of such films as "Jailhouse Rock," "The Defiant Ones" and "Inherit the Wind"!), to figure out a way to stop the undead brother's unholy depredations....In truth, "Dead Men Walk" (something of a misnomer of a title, actually, as there is only one man in it who can be termed "the walking dead") is nothing that we haven't seen done infinitely better before, as well as after. The film sports production values very much in keeping with its Poverty Row provenance, and although Zucco is as dependable as ever in his double role, most of the other players deliver up fairly lackluster performances. Director Sam Newfield (who, the previous year, had helmed the Zucco film "The Mad Monster") brings his film home in a fairly lackluster manner, while screenwriter Fred Myton (who had also been responsible for "The Mad Monster") offers up some fairly conventional dialogue. The film also features some clumsy scene transitions and decidedly oddball musical cues, and in all strikes the viewer as a decidedly minor piffle. Not helping matters is the fact that the film today seems to reside in the public domain, with many subpar prints floating about. The one that I just experienced, courtesy of the usually dependable TCM, sported a corroded-looking image and some very lousy sound; fortunately, it is possible to also watch the film on YouTube, a site that offers any number of superior prints of the film, but none of which looks truly pristine. Still, there is some good news to be had here. "Dead Men Walk," besides being a fine showcase for Zucco's skills (he is very sympathetic as the kindly Dr. Lloyd and at times chilling as the evil undead brother...never more so than when he first appears in Lloyd's study after his funeral), also features a few interesting camera setups and some interesting visuals courtesy of cinematographer Jack Greenhalgh, as well as giving us the opportunity to appreciate the, uh, unique thesping skills of Dwight Frye, here in another of his patented wacko roles. (Sadly, Frye would be gone the following year, the victim of a heart attack at the age of 44.) The picture also provides the viewer with several well-done scenes, especially the one that takes place toward the finale, with the two brothers battling to the death in the flaming residence of Elwyn, while Zolarr, pinned beneath a piece of furniture, screeches "Help me, master!" I suppose that there are probably worse ways to kill an hour (the film runs to a streamlined 63 minutes...NOT the 67 claimed by "Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide") than by sitting down with "Dead Men Walk," but most viewers, I have a feeling, will be left vaguely dissatisfied. The film is best recommended for completists of 1940s horror fare only--even though the picture in question never rises to the task of engendering chills--or perhaps to those fans of George Zucco who just cannot see enough of him...if any such person exists out there. Others might be well warned away, as watching "Dead Men Walk" might very well result in "Live Man Sleeping"....

Reading Kim Newman's excellent Nightmare Movies book,I noticed Newman mention that the first Human Centipede shared similarities with "mad scientist" movies starring George Zucco.Taking a look at a box set that an IMDber had kindly sent me,I was delighted to find a Zucco title starring James Whale collaborator Dwight Frye,which led to me getting ready to see a dead man walk.The plot:Attending his brother Dr. Elwyn's funeral, Dr. Lloyd Clayton hears whispers from the towns people that Elwyn is not really dead,due to him having been involved in the occult.Joining the hushed discussions of the residence,Elwyn former assistant Zolarr suspects that Lloyd knows more about his brothers death than he is letting on.Unknown to the towns people and his brother,Elwyn had made secret plans with Zolarr which would allow Zolarr to bring him back from the dead as a vampire.Coming back from the dead,Elwyn decides to sink his fangs deep into his Lloyd's life.View on the film:Filmed in just 6 days,director Sam Newfield gives the movie some stylish touches,with the overlapping reappearance/disappearing image of Elwyn Clayton giving the title a ghostly atmosphere.Running at a trim 64 minutes,the screenplay by Fred Myton offers a charming mix of "mad scientist" and vampire bite.Openly mentioning Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,Myton does very well at setting up expectations for a Hyde tale,which are gradually twisted into a clear divide being made between Lloyd & Elwyn,with Lloyd being a man of reason,and Elwyn being a creature of the night.Slobbering over the screen, Dwight Frye gives a cheerful performance as Zolarr,with Frye's bug eyes popping out as he tip toes in the shadows to do his masters bidding.Taking on two roles in this flick, George Zucco gives a wonderful performance as the Clayton's,thanks to Zucco giving Lloyd some shots of upper-crust charm,which are counted by the red-eye madness of Elwyn,as the dead men drop.

"They will give me the blood from their hearts as I destroy them!" That's the return from the grave statement that one of the two brothers which George Zucco plays almost immediately after his funeral. It wasn't a respectful send-off with a woman intruder invading the church to damn the congregation for having a church service for such an evil man. It turns out that the surviving brother was responsible for his own brother's death which he claims was necessary because indeed, his brother was evil. Now back for revenge, he's combination ghost and vampire, appearing and disappearing as well, and not giving his brother a moment of rest. The subject of the back from the dead brother's revenge is their own niece (Mary Carlisle) and in order to stop his brother from his unearthly revenge, the surviving brother utilizes his niece as the method to which he will destroy the undead for good. But Carlisle's fiancée (Nedrick Young) suspects that the surviving brother has his own reasons for keeping such a close eye on Carlisle and accuses him of setting the whole thing up!Zucco gives two completely different performances: one an obvious evil mad man, the other seemingly decent. What makes the tension in this so great is the fact that you don't know for sure if the "good" brother is indeed doing mankind a favor by taking the life of his own sibling. The dead Zucco has an Igor like hunchbacked assistant (Robert Strange) under his control (doesn't every madman?) who does his every bidding, while Fern Emmett plays a character obviously influenced by the screeching harpies played by Una O'Connor and the nosy neighbors played by Eily Malyon and Margaret Hamilton. Emmett, however, brings on an Evangelical theme into the film, first by invading the church during the opening scenes, and later in the near conclusion where she comes across the grave. A moody, atmospheric setting and cleverly slow pacing (which works in this case) sets this above many Z-grade shockers of the 1930's and 40's, although in the case of Zucco, he also scored with the same year's "The Black Raven" as well. When I first took an interest in the classic movies, I used to skip the ones for some reason I considered beneath me (anything which came from Monogram or PRC), but now that I've discovered them, I am fascinating even with the low budgets, cheap sets, sometimes dismal photography and theatrical acting that seems to have gone out with flame burning footlights and putting on melodramas in local barns. But in many cases, they are more entertaining than many of the classics we've come to cherish, and get to their point faster and with more action. Zucco always added an undercurrent of subtlety in his evil characters, and when the seemingly good ones did turn out to be evil, it was both a surprise and a prediction. "We were brothers, and there was a bond of hatred that was there between us for a lifetime", he states here, and you truly feel all the emotions that both men share. I am glad that modern day audiences have taken an interest in these and hopefully film preservation societies will put in the efforts into cleaning up these prints and retaining them for eternity. Even on the cheap, they are true pieces of art.

This one has an odd title, since it is more appropriate for a zombie flick rather than a vampire picture. In any case, it reunites director Newfield with star George Zucco (I have another collaboration of theirs to go through during this "Halloween Challenge", THE FLYING SERPENT {1946}, apart from having just acquired one more i.e. the non-horror outing THE BLACK RAVEN {1943}).Zucco plays dual roles here: an eminent small-town doctor and his disreputable twin (whose burial actually opens the film), with an avid interest in the occult extending to his having joined the ranks of the undead (complete with unhinged acolyte – who else but Dwight Frye? – to protect him when powerless i.e. during the day and generally do his evil bidding). By the way, this also features an intrepid old lady (eventually gotten out of the way by Frye, then on his last legs himself!) – an unlikely and annoying device adopted in a handful of vintage horrors. Typically, the good Zucco is charged with caring for the leading lady (invariably engaged to a young man – played by subsequently blacklisted actor-turned-Oscar-winning-writer Nedrick Young! – who admires him, though he has no qualms about threatening the old man for his helplessness when the girl is on the point of dying!). In fact, apart from one isolated attack early on, the vampire concentrates his blood-drinking activities upon her, intending to turn the girl into his disciple (bride?): however, since she calls his brother "Uncle" and no mention is made of another sibling, the heroine must also be the villain's own flesh and blood (how's that for perversion?)! For the record, the aged and partially-disabled Zucco is not exactly cut out for fang-and-cloak work: if anything, he never quite bares the former and, with respect to the latter, sticks to his everyday clothes throughout – though he can still appear and vanish again at will! Amusingly, the film proper is preceded by a prologue featuring an "Inner Sanctum"-type host delivering a portentous speech, and where a book entitled "History Of Vampires" is actually thrown into the fire – intimating that what is to follow will be a novel spin on things but, then, what we get is just the usual stuff! While undeniably watchable (especially at a manageable 64-minute duration), DEAD MEN WALK's programmer pedigree ultimately makes it strictly forgettable fare.