I watched the 1946 Republic movie Valley of the
Zombies on Netflix. It was actually quite good, despite the fact that there
really is no valley or any zombies to speak of. The valley of the title was
only mentioned by the villain of the movie, Ormond Murks, played wonderfully by
Ian Keith. He is a zombie, but only in title. He claims to have
discovered a potion in the aforementioned valley that made him virtually dead,
but he needs blood transfusions to continue to survive.
Murks isn’t a post Night of the Living Dead zombie,
of course, since this was made over twenty years prior. But he’s not the Voodoo
zombie of films like The Zombie King or White Zombie, either. In
fact, there is really nothing zombie-ish about him at all. Despite that, he
steals the movie with his almost, but not-quite over-the-top escaped mental
patient role (an escaped mental patient “zombie”).
Clocking in at only fifty-six minutes long, his is a B-movie
in the classic sense, and has all the elements that make B-movies great. The
use of shadow and light is wonderful, and one of my favorite line deliveries is
in the beginning when Murks tells one of his former doctors, “My wants are
simple, Dr. Maynard. Very simple…blood.” There are also some nice
details. For example, when the male and female leads, played by Robert
Livingston and Lorna Gray respectively, enter a supposedly abandoned house, one
of them lights a candelabra and there are only two candles intact, one worn
down more than the other – instead of three fresh candles just waiting for the
intruders.
Yes, there’s the typical scene of a hand emerging from the
shadows, flexing menacingly about to grab the unaware heroine by the neck, but
no! The male lead turns to face her just in time, and the hand retreats, unseen
by either of the leads. Then, when the male lead turns his back to the female
again, out comes the hand…but no! Male lead turns just in time, hand retreats,
and the two leads are still none-the-wiser.
Of course, given the time the movie was made, the female
lead has typical lines like, “You might need help, and I’m good at screaming.”
And even though she plays a nurse, she gets squeamish at the sight of a dead
body.
But if you want a good, classic B-movie to watch late at
night, try this one out. I bet you won’t be disappointed.
* * * * *
Nothing like a good B-movie to help in a bind when you're bored *wink*
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