By
Ed Garea
Dead
Men Walk (PRC, 1943) – Director: Sam
Newfield. Writer Fred Myron (s/p). Stars: George Zucco, Mary
Carlisle, Nedrick Young, Dwight Frye, Fern Emmett, Robert Strange,
Hal Price & Sam Flint. B&W, 64 minutes.
With
the horror film boom of the ‘40s still going strong, 1943 was a
banner year for vampire pictures. Columbia led the way with Bela
Lugosi in Return of the Vampire; Universal released the
so-so Son of Dracula with Lon Chaney Jr. in the
lead; and Producers Releasing Corporation brought up the rear
with Dead Men Walk.
But
what it lacks in pacing (it runs for 64 minutes, but seems much
longer), effects and budget, it more than makes up for in the horror
tropes with which we are familiar: a murder mystery that turns out to
be much more, a vengeful vampire, the mysterious bite marks on the
neck no one can figure out, lots of drivel about the supernatural -
especially the observation first stated by Van Helsing
in Dracula that “the vampire’s greatest strength
is that no one will believe in him,” laughable effects, the wacky
villager, a vigilante mob, a crazed hunchback assistant, and the
all-pervading “hours of darkness.”
George
Zucco plays twin brothers: the good Dr. Lloyd Clayton, the town’s
respected physician, and the evil Elwyn Clayton, who had gone to
India, was messing around in black magic and had become a servant of
Satan. Though Lloyd fought his brother protect the soul of his niece
(and Elwyn’s daughter), Gayle (Carlisle), what he doesn’t know is
that Satan has arranged for Elwyn to become a vampire as a reward for
his years of loyal service.
The
film proper begins at Elwyn’s funeral, which is interrupted by the
town’s crazy lady, Kate (Emmett). She claims the sanctity of the
church is being polluted by the body of the evil Elwin and warns that
they haven’t seen the last of him. While most of the townsfolk
dismiss Kate as a looney, Lloyd knows that she’s right. She is the
only other person, besides Lloyd, who knew of Elwyn’s dabbling in
the black arts.
After
the funeral Lloyd goes to Elwyn’s home to burn his collection of
occult books and papers. There he’s interrupted by Elwyn’s
hunchbacked servant, Zolarr (Frye), who accuses Lloyd of murdering
his brother in cold blood. Lloyd, however, claims it was
self-defense; that Elwyn fell from a cliff while he and Lloyd
struggled.
Zolarr
exhumes Elwyn's casket and Elwyn emerges as a vampire. We learn that
he had wasted no time since his burial and subsequently becoming a
vampire, having arranged for Zolarr to hide his remains so that no
one can find and destroy him. He has plans to initiate his daughter
into the vampire cult and frame Lloyd for the crimes.
After
Lloyd examines a person who died from extreme anemia, he’s visited
that night in his study by Elwyn, who tells Lloyd of his plan for
Gayle. He will slowly drain her life while Lloyd can only watch,
powerless to stop it. “Your life will be a torment - I'll strip you
of everything you hold dear.” Elwyn also tells his brother that if
he tried to explain it, no one would believe him. Lloyd’s response
is to pull a pistol from his desk drawer and pump several shots into
Elwyn as he laughs manically and disappears with no effect.
Elwyn
begins visiting Gayle, draining her of blood. Dr. David Bentley
(Young), her fiancé, thinks Lloyd has been poisoning her. He goes to
the sheriff (Price) about his suspicions, which are overheard by some
of the townsfolk. Soon the town is inundated with rumors that Lloyd
is a murderer. Wilkins (Strange), one of the townsfolk, wants to form
a posse and go after Lloyd. The sheriff warns Lloyd to leave town,
but he refuses.
Kate
comes to Lloyd’s defense by explaining to him in David’s presence
all the timeworn remedies for handling a vampire, such as the wearing
of a crucifix and finding the vampire’s body during daylight and
burning it.
She
discovers Elwyn’s body, but before she can tell Lloyd about it,
Zolarr kills her (off-screen), with the villagers thinking Lloyd is
responsible. Later, while Elwyn is dispatching another victim, he
lets Wilkins catch him in the act. Wilkins thinks it’s Lloyd and
begins getting the villagers together.
David
finally believes Lloyd is telling the truth when Elwyn appears before
them. He agrees to stay at the house and stand guard over Gayle while
Lloyd looks for Elwyn’s coffin. However, Zolarr has once again
moved it, placing it in Elwyn’s house.
While
David stalls the lynch mob, Lloyd hotfoots it over to Elwyn’s and
locates his brother. Zolarr jumps Lloyd, and during their
struggle a heavy marble statue falls on the hunchback, trapping him.
By this time Elwyn has awakened and attacks his brother. During their
struggle a candle is knocked over and sets the house on fire. Elwyn
easily has the upper hand until we hear a rooster crowing, making the
onset of dawn and the ebbing of the vampire’s strength.
Meanwhile,
the mob finally overcomes David and storms over to Elwyn's pad, where
they see Elwyn and Lloyd locked in mortal combat. By the time Lloyd
kills Elwyn, he is surrounded by flames, and both he and his brother,
along with the trapped Zolarr, die in the blaze.
Afterwords
Directed by
schlockmeister Sam Newfield, Dead Men Walk was shot
over the course of six days, and looks it. The film eschews outright
shock, replacing it with an underlying dark and creepy atmosphere and
taking its horror from that.
The
visual effects employ cheap editing tricks to provide its scares. The
sight of Elwyn appearing and disappearing would be more effective if
he appeared more substantial instead of almost transparent. The other
scenes where Elwyn and Lloyd appear together, especially at the end
make use of in-camera multiple exposures and body doubles. Zucco is
also made to look foolish by Newfield’s emphasis on speed. In both
of the scenes where Elwyn rises from his coffin, we see Zucco visibly
struggling to get to his feet, something an all-powerful vampire
should ever do. At least Chaney Jr. in Son of Dracula,
released the same year, is allowed to exit his coffin as a mist.
Fred
Myton’s script borrows liberally from preceding vampire and horror
films, and though he uses a unique gimmick in having both vampire and
vampire hunter as twins, his ignorance of basic vampire lore, even
after studying these films, is rather disconcerting. For instance,
it’s never explained why Elwyn’s rising via black magic should
result in his becoming a vampire, as it’s not the usual route.
George
Zucco is solid as the two separate but related personalities,
although Elwyn comes off much more like an evil sorcerer than a
vampire. Unfortunately for Zucco, his portrayal of the characters of
Lloyd and Elwyn comes off as too much alike. While Lloyd is kind
and good and Elwyn evil and sadistic, the only way the viewer can
tell them apart is that Lloyd wears eyeglasses. The use of subtle
differences between the two characters would have made Zucco’s
performance and the film much more effective, but then, time was of
the essence at PRC and Newfield wasn’t the sort to draw out a
performance. He just shot film.
Mary
Carlisle, in her last film role, is fine as Gayle, but is locked into
the standard “endangered ingenue” role and comes off much like
Suzanne Kaaren in The Devil Bat (1940). She retired
shortly after marrying actor James Blakeley, who later became a
production executive at Twentieth-Century Fox Television. Nedrick
Young’s purpose seems to be there merely to deliver lines and give
a little support to Lloyd.
The
real joy of the movie is Dwight Frye as Zolarr. A talented actor who
was unfortunately typecast after playing Renfield in Dracula and
Fritz in Frankenstein, he brings the best of both roles
to his performance as Zolarr.
In
the final analysis, Dead Men Walk is an uneven
mixture, seeking to combine elements of standard vampire thrillers
with black magic. the film is weak on both ends, A rather dubious
combination to begin, the script is of no help, making the film weak
in both horror aspects.
While
it has its moments of moody atmosphere and bits of supernatural
dialogue, the uninspired direction along with a snail’s pacing
and a script that gives us a central conflict that fails to engage
makes the film a less than gratifying experience.
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