Dr. Elwyn Clayton dies at the hands of his brother, Lloyd, in act of self defense, and Lloyd finds that the world is a better place without his brother, primarily the fact that Elwyn dabbled in black magic. A string of murders occurs in the village, that Dr. Clayton can find no explanation for, not knowing that Elwyn has become one of the unliving, thanks to the assistance of his aide Zolarr. Elwyn encounters his brother and tells Lloyd that he will make his life an uncomfortable one. He starts by turning Lloyd's niece, Gayle, into a vampire. When Gayle's fiance, David, debukes Lloyd's suspicions that his brother has some influence over his niece, David believes that Lloyd is the one responsible for Gayle's condition and asks the sheriff to arrest him before Gayle dies. This fact also riles the townspeople who are out to lynch Lloyd, feeling he is responsible for the murders. This one should have been better, and it wastes an excellent performance by Zucco in the dual role. Frye, in one of his last roles, is good, but you could see he wasn't at the same caliber 10 years ago. The two romantic leads, Young and Carlisle, really put you to sleep here (coincidence that Gayle is sleeping a lot?). Fern Emmett is good as the God fearing, but crazed Kate. Much of the movie does seem padded, and rarely gets the chance to get going, with an ending that didn't seem well thought out. Rating, 4.
Review of Dead Men Walk
