CURSE OF THE UNDEAD (1959)
Tagline: The countryside, terrorized! The young and beautiful, drained of life! Even the strongest man, destroyed by the unholy...
(Horror, Western, Blood Sucking Fiend from Beyond the Grave) [PG]
Note: This movie did not get an MPA rating, but likely would have landed a PG rating if it were released today. This is regarded to be the first Western involving a supernatural vampire.
There's a little cottage down by the old cemetery. Caretaker used to live in it. I'll have it cleaned up and you can stay there. Unless being so close to a cemetery would upset you?
In this one chicks are dying left and right in a small western town. As it turns out they are having massive amounts of blood drained from their bodies, and no one in town seems to have a clue as to who or what is doing it. Dolores Carter is desperate to find the killer when a mysterious man comes into town claiming he can find the killer. She offers him lodging but Preacher Dan has his doubts about the man and his eye on Dolores. Is it too late to save the town from the CURSE OF THE UNDEAD?
First off, this movie is only 79 minutes long, so the fact that it drags at all is kind of a downer. Unfortunately, we do get some of that, but it’s not as bad as some other flicks from the era. I really like Westerns so the slowness doesn’t get to me and there is a bit of a Western-style story here regarding Buffer and the Carter family having a dispute. There are also some deeper ideas in this involving the sin of suicide, faith, the horror of being a bloodthirsty killer, etc.
As far as things that are missing, I would have to say that for a horror flick, we don’t really get that intimidating of a vampire here. As a Western it’s fine, but as a horror flick it’s below par so just don’t expect a bunch of gore or any of that when you watch this. What do have is a lot of necks getting bitten, so there’s that.
Acting wise this is a fantastic outing for Eric Fleming (QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE). I actually liked his character but I can’t really see him falling for Dolores after some of the things she’s said and done. She literally tells him she would pray to the devil if the devil would take revenge on the killer. She also tells him she would do anything to prove that he is wrong. I mean, dang guys. That sounds like a breakup waiting to happen. Kathleen Crowley (TARGET EARTH) plays the stubborn and ridiculous Dolores and I didn’t like the character, I was literally waiting for them to start playing Garbage’s, “Stupid Girl” on the soundtrack. Having said that, she is a fantastic actress. She also plays a crazy chick in THE FLAME BARRIER. Michael Pate (HOWLING III) is good in this as Drake Robey, but the role they cast him in and the look they gave him wasn’t that great.
As far as the dialog goes, this is actually a pretty decent script. Apparently, the writers never thought this film would get made. I like the fact that we got a lot of Western elements, up to and including a shootout. The sets are all pretty well done and the score is really solid. I also thought the ending was pretty cool even though it didn’t really fit the lore they gave in the movie itself.
But there's just one thing that you must understand
You can fool with your brother
But don't mess with a missionary man
Don't mess with a missionary man
I give this one a 4 out of 7 for the script, but it is not going to garner much in the scare department if you are looking for an old-school horror-o-thon.
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