The Undead

This film isn't THAT bad...sure it's a b-movie, but it stars Alison (va-va-voom!) Hayes (Attack of the 50-Foot Woman), has great music by Ronald Stein, and is dripping with atmosphere. The story is thoughtful, clever, and better than most grade-b stuff from the 50s. The ending could go any which way and the surprise twist is the stuff Twilight Zone episodes were made of.

The Undead is a great film to trot out at Halloween time to scare young kids and for adults to giggle at. Hey, when I saw this one as a kid on TV I was totally SPOOKED! Today, it's "badness" is it's strong suit. Then, it showed promise for a young Corman, who would reach his cinematic pinnacle with his superb mature work, Masque of the Red Death.

Yeah, that's right, I like the grave digger AND his incessant singing. Everyone calls him mad, MAD, I say!--but his little ballads are always right on point. He is very reminiscent of the Fool in King Lear--the observer whose supposed simple-mindedness allows him alone to comment insightfully on the madness of the others.

Also, I like movies that teach me things. Like that women in the fifties somehow had both 14" waists and, well, GIGANTIC BREASTS! Weird science, man. It's a wonder that woman didn't snap in two when she stood up.

A clever, sly and witty film disguised as a B movie. I assume its low rating is due to the fact that its rarely seen

This is the story of Diana Love (Pamela Duncan), who undergoes hypnosis and recounts her past life. We are whisked away to olden times, where Diana -now known as Helene- encounters all manner of dangerous situations after being accused of witchcraft. This gets the attention of a real witch named Livia (Allison Hayes), who is none too pleased. From this skeletal storyline emerges the astonishing magnum opus known as THE UNDEAD!

Utterly absurd and completely bonkers, this movie shows what Director Roger Corman was capable of while channeling William Schlockspeare. It could be seen as the sister film of Ed Wood's GLEN OR GLENDA, or simply as a histrionic explosion, complete with nonsensical roles for Billy Barty and Dorothy Neuman. Thankfully, Corman found filler parts for Bruno VeSota and Dick Miller as well.

Extra points for Satan (Richard Devon) and his lovely graveyard dancers!

This wonderful shambles makes us weep with joy! The incomprehensible ramblings of Smolkin (Mel Welles) shall echo through our souls forever...

I have seen this weird little movie twice. The first was on MST3K and then I saw the straightforward version on AMC. I must say that this is the only movie I've seen on MST3K that did not fully deserve it's treatment. Granted there are a lot of problems with the film. The perfomers, for the most part, were mediocre. But not so bad as to make the film unwatchable.

The production values had the distinct odor of cheese to them, but what can you expect from circa 1957?

The plotline is interesting. A mad scientist hires a street hooker to be a guinea pig on his experiments on past life regession. He transports the woman to 16th century Europe where, in this incarnation, she is a witch. The woman has to make a choice of whether or not to allow her past incarnation to die so her future lives can come into being-or stay in the past to live with her lover. Of course this guy is such a twit, death might be preferable to a lifetime with him. So maybe she really had no choice, after all.

What makes this so interesting is that the whole thing had a anachronistic new-agey quasi-feminist tone that is about ten years ahead of it's time. I actually found myself ignoring Mike and the 'bots and trying to concentrate on what was going on in the film. It's the first time that had ever happened. When I saw the non-MSTie version I actually grew to like it. Check it out. You might be surprised.