Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

ksf-2 Film opens with an evil, mysterious man throwing a book into the fire.. "History of Vampires". The narrator goes on to mumble for a couple minutes, and introduces the story.... something about an event that occurred on the witch's sabbath. whatever. The sound quality is just terrible, although the picture quality is mostly pretty good. a bit rough in some spots. the sound goes up and down, but mostly down. so annoying. this one could use a restoration. George Zucco plays both Clayton brothers... LLoyd and Elwyn. LLoyd realizes that Elwyn worships satan, and decides to take matters into his own hands. and then the trouble begins. Gayle (Mary Carlisle) is Lloyd's neice, who gets caught up in the adventures. Carlisle has an interesting tale on wikipedia, and appears to still be alive as of today, at 104 ! the storyline moves SLOWLY... but seems to be straightforward enough. Not bad, for 1943. if you can stand the poor sound. Directed by Sam Newfield, who also has an interesting story on wikipedia. check it out!

InjunNose "Dead Men Walk" would not qualify as a great film in any universe, but with a bigger budget it might have been worth seeing more than once. George Zucco plays twin brothers, one a straight arrow and the other a black sheep who tinkers with the occult; the straight arrow kills his evil twin, who is resurrected as a vampire with the help of his bug-eyed servant (Dwight Frye). Predictable horror shenanigans ensue. If you've seen the dour, dignified Zucco in any of his more lavishly-budgeted pictures, like "Dr. Renault's Secret" or "The Mad Ghoul", then you know that he was perfectly capable of carrying a film...but "Dead Men Walk" refuses to be carried. It's shabby-looking, packed with the kind of tight shots favored by Poverty Row studios and which made their films look as if they'd been lensed in a single corner of someone's tiny house. The dialogue is conspicuously purple, even for a horror flick, and occasionally almost schizophrenic: in one breath a character solemnly reflects on "vampires lying in unholy repose, their teeth stained with the blood of the living", but drawls, "Shucks! I'm scared as the dickens!" in the next. (I'm not quoting directly from the film, but I'm not far off, either.) The acting is competent but utterly lacks conviction; even Dwight Frye is phoning it in. These folks were making a stinker and they knew it.

bkoganbing Mary Carlisle who was a WAMPAS baby star back in 1932 and did three films with Bing Crosby at Paramount ends her career with this rather sorry horror film from poverty row Producer's Releasing Corporation. But she takes a back seat to George Zucco playing brothers in Dead Men Walk, a good and a bad Dr. Zucco.The bad Dr. Zucco was killed in a fight with the good one, but with the aid of his acolyte slave Dwight Frye he comes back from the dead as a vampire and he starts killing people. And since they're twins folks around the area think it's the good and live doctor just gone bad.The bad Zucco also bites Mary Carlisle and tries to put her under his influence as surely as Bela Lugosi did with Helen Chandler. In fact this whole film is a cheap imitation of Dracula without the great Gothic scenes and atmosphere that Lugosi's film at Universal a classic.I'll bet Mary Carlisle wished that Bing was crooning a love song at her again. She left the movies after this stinker and I'm sure at 100 years of age doesn't look back fondly on this one.

wes-connors Make that one "Dead Man" walking. It's George Zucco (as Dr. Elwyn Clayton), practitioner of the Black Arts, who has just been slain, by his abel (okay, able) look-alike brother George Zucco (as Dr. Lloyd Clayton). The film's first mistake is not showing the murder; instead, it is explained, by "bad" Zucco's companion Dwight Frye (as Zolarr). As the vampire, Zucco keeps it all in the family by repeatedly going for the neck of pretty blonde niece Mary Carlisle (Gayle Clayton), quite like they did on "Dark Shadows". Ms. Carlisle's boyfriend, Nedrick Young (Dr. David Bently), is, initially, nonplussed.Story development is unoriginal; obviously, filmmakers expected everyone was familiar with the "Dracula" plot. This variation lets its possibilities slip away by leaving interesting new stones unturned. The graveyard scenes are atmospheric; possibly, they are enhanced by the low budget. The film's conclusion really fires things up; but, a lack of characterization and originality regarding the ending confrontation is a damper. The cast and crew perform well, under the circumstances.**** Dead Men Walk (2/10/43) Sam Newfield ~ George Zucco, Mary Carlisle, Nedrick Young, Dwight Frye