CURSE OF THE UNDEAD (1959) has been one of my holy grails of horror films. It is one of the few Universal Monster movies to be released on VHS but never see the light of DVD, and the old cassette fetches ridiculous prices online. After finally seeing it (thanks to Svengoolie,) it has quickly become one of my top vampire movies AND top westerns. While the combination immediately calls to mind a ridiculous parody, the film plays it straight and does both genres justice. Australian-born, Western stalwart, Michael Pate takes a break from playing Indians to play the bloodsucking nobleman/gunfighter, Drake Robey. As this Spanish don-turned-undead gunslinger, Pate portrays one of the most well-rounded and sympathetic vampires Ive ever seen on film. By the end of the film, I was on his side 100% to get the girl versus Eric Flemings (RAWHIDE) bland, stiff as a board reverend. Released at the tail-end of Universals last horror cycle, CURSE came out on the heels of Hammers Technicolor, genre-reviving HORROR OF DRACULA. But despite a low budget, which makes it look like an expressionistic episode of GUNSMOKE, the film dares to play with the conventions of vampire lore while being a solid western in its own right. Its a shame its been relegated to obscurity while so many lesser B-movies from the era have attained cult status.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 16:51:41 +0000
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