CodyZamboni
Movie is lame and boring. One of Roger Corman's misfires. A film about hypnosis, past lives, time travel, silly Shakespearean dialogue, witches. and lame fx. Some interest in that this is one of first movies about about messing around with timelines, The other assets being the two hot female leads.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
12/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
In the mid-1950s, reincarnation was in and The Search for Bridey Murphy was being made, so Roger Corman asked Charles Griffith to write a script, which was originally called The Trance of Diana Love, which is a great title, and was to be in all iambic pentameter.
Griffith said, "I separated all the different things with sequences with the devil, which were really elaborate, and the dialogue in the past was all in iambic pentameter. Roger got very excited by that. He handed the script around for everybody to read, but nobody understood the dialogue, so he told me to translate it into English. The script was ruined."
I can't even add up how many wasted hours that was.
Mel Welles, who played Smolkin, told Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup "it was a wonderful script and it probably would have been the cult film rather than Little Shop of Horrors had it been shot that way. But either Roger or someone at American-International Pictures didn't think it was commercially viable to do it that way and at the last minute a decision was made to rewrite the script without that."
Quintus Ratcliff (Val DuFour) is a psychic researcher who has spent years in Tibet to learn how to mentally regress someone back into their past life. He wants to prove to an old professor that he can do this, so he hires Diana Love (Pamela Duncan) for $500 to place her into a trance for two days.
She's soon back in the Middle Ages, trapped in the mind of her ancestor Helene, accused of witchcraft. Diana is able to inform her past self of how to escape, so she heads into the night and meets up with the real witch Livia (Allison Hayes) and even Satan himself (Richard Devon).
Using the link between Diana and Helene, Quintus comes back in time, hoping to convince Helene to avoid her death and change history.
With Billy Barty as an imp and Dick Miller as a leper, this Corman film may have been a cheap one -- and one that caused him stress with the bad smelling fog and budget iss
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
One of the reasons why I am a huge Svengoolie fan is because of the wide variety of movies he shows. However for every classic Svengoolie shows, there are a few that miss the target. Roger Corman's "The Undead" definitely is a miss. A big one. The movie is not terrible, but it is loaded with flaws. Suspension of disbelief can only go so far. The cast does their best with the script they are given. I will admit it was kind of neat to see veteran character actors the late Richard Miller and the late Billy Barty in early roles. However that is really the only good things I can say about this movie. The script is not well written. It is very dull and confusing. Also, once the movie had ended I just did not feel any emotion for the characters. It is a very forgettable movie and it is not worth your time in my opinion. The performances alone are what is compelling me to give this movie two stars. However you need more than that to make a good movie.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
joe m
Not overly scary yet "The Undead" is a surprisingly engaging with a better than usual plot than you'd expect from a Roger Corman film. Mixing hypnotism, time travel, witchcraft and the very question of reincarnation and predestination, it manages to bring these all together even if done using B actors and a set that was apparently all done on in a former supermarket. Recommend, even if not highly.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Now I know where Dan Curtis, brainchild behind Dark Shadows, possibly got his idea during the shows run. Although the title The Undead is deceiving, this film was surprisingly good schlock with adequate attempt at Shakespearean verse. A remake these days would ruin it. The appropriate gloomy sets and fairytale quality lend a mystical attribute that kept me mesmerized in complete childlike abandon. Sure there are bloopers & screwups but the actors did their job. The ‘50's were a good era for B-flics all around.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Rather an undiscovered gem despite the 18% audience score.
An entertaining reincarnation film, part 50's hypno-science and half dream-like fantasy (which from the few Corman films I recall seeing is par for the course).
Scientist uses street girl in a past life regression experiment. The young lady is returned to a medieval past where she is to be killed as a witch though she is not one. The cast play the characters well and though a little campy is done with a rather seriousness.
Hayes as Livia is attractive and well cast as the real witch. Welles is a standout as the gravedigger Smokin and his lines are well written for his character.
The other actors/characters are fine, the devil's appearance at the end well done and overall I just really enjoyed this film. One review says it deserves a remake, well if it was handled properly yes it could be a good candidate. Still why bother as long as the original exists.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/18/23
Full Review
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