Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

karen5778 This is one of those B movies that grade A character actors make to satisfy their own souls. Basically, a bunch of familiar faces, some with familiar names, do variations on their standard personae in service of a moral fable. Each character illustrates a moral attitude or dilemma, with their ends illustrating the logical outcome of their choices. Most get a chance to explicate their character's world view, and most seem to relish the opportunity.If you can believe one of these other reviews, Karloff's character was radically re-written at his behest, and it gives him a chance to play the Monster as himself. If you know something about Karloff's early career, or lack thereof, you can see he draws on his own experience for his character's early demeanor. First, he is an educated man suffering from bad luck and PTSD, then he has to struggle back from a traumatic brain injury. If you like watching Karloff use those big old eyes of his,this movie is for you.

Prichards12345 I suppose you could argue that many classic horror movies are pretty religious - Frankenstein is about a scientist who tampers with God's forbidden knowledge and pays the penalty - Dracula is awash in religious symbolism; The Exorcist is seen by many as a serious comment on Possession by Demons - Yet The Walking Dead also has this religious element...and then some! Boris Karloff plays John Elman, a former convict just out of prison for accidentally killing a man. Elman, a musician, is promptly stitched up by gangsters for the murder of the judge who sent him down, removing the judge's threat to their criminal activities. He walks the last mile to the electric chair proclaiming his innocence. However medical researcher Dr. Beaumont (Edmund Gwen) restores Karloff to life with the aid of the Lindburgh Heart, a real device from the 30s that Charles Linburgh co-designed in the hope it would lead to mechanical heart replacements.Elman has suffered a blood clot which has affected his memory, yet strangely he seems to know everything the guilty men did, and sets out to confront those responsible.And here is the crux - Karloff does not hunt these men down like some mad zombie, he merely appears to each and questions them as to their actions, and through their own fear they each die. The whole theme of the movie is the vengeance of a higher power using Elman as his agent.The movie is a watchable and atmospheric little thriller, with Karloff giving a strangely moving performance. Director Michael Curtiz, here making his third horror movie after Dr. X and Mystery Of The Wax Museum, delivers another good addition to these films. If you expect Karloff in monster mode you'll probably be disappointed, but The Walking Dead is interestingly different to the usual horror fare, and well worth a look.

mickeeteeze First off, I rated this flick a '7' because I like the old Hollywood stuff. From that, my first real fascination was with the "Universal" monster stuff, particularly 1936 and before. With that in mind, here is my review. Quite simply, this is a Warner Brothers 'knockoff' of the Whale/Karloff Frankenstein films, with a particularly strong nod to 1935's "Bride". The entire time I was watching, including the 'scientific' scenes, I kept seeing the 'Monster'. A couple of very 'telling' things: the Karloff character removes his dentures after the re-animation sequence. There is a silver streak in his hair at the same height as the 'monsters' flat head. He is dressed in the same dark outfit, and lumbers around. The imagery is strong. While the over the top Jack Pierce make-up is absent, the lighting, etc, and the above things mentioned create a more 'human monster' visual, but it is there. Next similarity.....in the first "Frankenstein", one could be forgiven for not finding the monster altogether sympathetic. After all, despite Whale/Karloff's sympathetic presentation, the thing is a child killer. He also ends the film in murderous rage directed at Henry. However, in "Bride", there is no such ambiguity. With the exception of the first murder (Maria's father underneath the mill), we are clearly shown who the 'victim' is in the film. The film score in "Bride" is exquisite as well, a slow pulse throbbing underneath a majestic arrangement. Enough of the set-up. In "The Walking Dead", I saw the sympathetic reanimated Karloff character (looking much like the 'monster' in the shadows) lumbering around while some really bad 'know it all characters' get their comeuppance, one by one. There is a similarly soaring film score delivered over an insistent bass pulse. Where this film differs is, instead of the "Universal" staples of 'mad doctor', Una O'Conner type comic relief/character actors, you get the Warners staples. Cynical lawyers, DA's and gangsters, etc. All of that said, I enjoyed this film. I probably hadn't seen it in 35 years, if at all. All of those things that may seem like negatives, as written above? I like the Warners 'stock characters' and love the "Universal" monster stuff. I just saw all the similarities, and noted the year of 1936. This film definitely was targeting a particular audience...the "Universal Audience". Ms. Churchill even appeared in that sexy scene from "Dracula's Daughter" featuring Gloria Holden that very year. I thought Cortez did his "Warners thing" well in this flick, and Mr. Glenn was good. If you like the kind of flicks I do, you'll enjoy seeing this as a curio. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I do not see this as some type of 'forgotten classic'. Far too many plot holes. (the most famous guy in the world, being watched by everybody, seems to effortlessly disappear and reappear without anyone noticing, and in the most OBVIOUS of places). But again, for what it is (a genre knockoff), it is well directed, well filmed, and has all of the right people in all of the right places.

classicsoncall Reading most of the other viewer comments on this board, I was surprised that virtually no one had anything to say about the whitish 'L' shaped band in Boris Karloff's hair. It was reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart's skunk like streak in "The Return of Dr. X" where he portrayed a vampire of all things! In "The Walking Dead", Karloff is an ex-con brought back from the dead after being framed for a murder he didn't commit. Once revived, he exacts his revenge on the gang that set him up, using a psychic link from the beyond to track them down and lead them to their doom. For the premise of the story to work however, one has to get beyond the point where the murdered Judge Shaw was connected to the car John Ellman (Karloff) was driving. With no one around, why wouldn't Ellman simply have found a place to dump the body?The other thing that bothered me was why the conflicted young couple working for Dr. Beaumont waited until the evening of Ellman's scheduled execution to come clean with their story. I mean Jimmy (Warren Hull) was jumping right out of his skin at the trial to tell what he knew, and it didn't strike me convincingly that Nancy (Marguerite Churchill) would let an innocent man die. I know, then there wouldn't have been a story, but gee, that makes them the film's really, REALLY bad guys, doesn't it?I must say, I was unusually impressed by the size and scope of Dr. Beaumont's (Edmund Gwenn) laboratory. It looked like Warner Brothers might have been trying to outdo their Universal counterparts in the technical gadgetry department with all those beakers and scientific looking gizmos. They even did one better on the Frankenstein operating table with one that see-sawed during the back to life process - pretty clever. The other Frankenstein connection saw Karloff's character walking through the cemetery after his last two victims using that distinctive halting gait.Fans of Boris Karloff might not consider this one of his better performances, but it still carries some punch whenever the camera closes in on his gaunt expressionless face. After all, he was dead you know. Which is kind of interesting, as this is one of those rare films where the zombie brought back to life is actually killed again before it's all over. Better not to try and explain it, just tune in for a frightfully good show.