‘An experiment of terror! A result of horror!’
Creature of the Walking Dead is a 1965 American film adapted by Jerry Warren (Face of the Screaming Werewolf; Curse of the Stone Hand; Teenage Zombies) from a 1961 Mexican horror film La Marca del Muerto (“The Mark of Death”) directed by Fernando Cortés.
The screenplay for the 1961 Mexican original was by José María Fernández Unsáin (Madness from Terror; Museum of Horror; The Ship of Monsters).
Jerry Warren’s direct contributions to the film were extensive editing, minimalist dubbing of the Mexican players in select scenes, voice-over narration of the majority of Mexican footage, and the filming and inclusion of several brief scenes and shots made by Warren in the United States with American actors.
Plot:
Dr. Malthus, a 19th-century mad scientist, discovers the secret of eternal youth by means of draining the blood of young women into his subjects. He is hung for his crimes, but his grandson inherits his home and revives him. Malthus then resumes his rejuvenation activities, enabled by the grandson…
Reviews:
“The scenes that were cut in by Jerry Warren were unnecessary and throwaway, not really adding anything to the film, though not really taking anything away either (except the scenes that were literally cut away). The only thing that saves this movie is what little brilliance from director Fernando Cortés’ original vision remains.” The Telltale Mind
“But, hell, it is boring. Long drawn out scenes and a story that just seems to drag along (even though the film is relatively short at under 70 minutes). The voiceover fills the viewer with dread and there is little to recommend this cut. How the proper Mexican version would fair is another question.” Taliesin Meets the Vampires
“Cortes’ customary pedestrian direction … fails to endow the banal story with the sense of patriarchal perversion it so badly needs.”The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror
Cast and characters:
- Fernando Casanova as Dr. Malthus (both)
- Aurora Alvarado
- Rosa María Gallardo
and (in added sequences or advertising):
- Rock Madison (a fictional actor’s name used for advertising purposes only)
- Ann Wells as Girl on telephone
- George Todd
- Willard Gross
- Bruno VeSota
- Lloyd Nelson
- Robert Christopher
- Chuck Niles
- Katherine Victor as Mrs. Roger Verno
- Fred Hoffman
- Lloyd Nelson
Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Wrong Side of the Art!
