Sunday, October 24, 2021

The Undead (1957)

October Challenge Day 23:

OH YEAH! Give me some of that Roger Corman goodness!! Welcome to the weird and hilarious but oddly captivating world of:



Don't let the dramatics of this absolutely fantastic poster fool you - this one is fun for the whole family. It also carries, much to my surprise, a heavy moral tale of the ethics of research. 

Here we have a couple of research scientists recruiting a sex worker for a little secret mental experiment (the internal review boards are SCREAMING). 

The research is on hypnotism and past lives. They take this woman back in time - to a past life where she was accused of being a witch and sentenced to die. 

More alarmingly, one of the scientists is able to "follow" her in this past life in attempts to save - her life.... Things essentially just Quantum Leap from there. 

While this is not my favorite Corman film, it certainly has it's charm and quirkiness. I was rolling - rolling - with the attempts at Medieval speech, but I also didn't care. It was Saturday afternoon and I was getting ready for a birthday dinner. 

There's a bonus real "witch" in this film who wanders around with her familiar, and I legit found their transformations and disappearances so utterly delightfully weird that I'm going to recommend watching this film *just* for this experience. 

In all, this is a great pick for a weekend afternoon or, if you're not into the real scary stuff, a cheeky and snuggly late night. 

While the storyline was going all over the place, I was honestly surprised at the weight of the tale. 

Corman's A Bucket of Blood still stands as one of my most favorite satirical horror stories, (It Is AMAZING) I also admire his attempts with this one at drawing attention to ethics and religious morals.

Best watched alone or in a very, very small group. Pairs with mead, bread, and soups. 

I watched this film on Amazon Prime or use the Find It! Watch It! links on Horror Habit's sidebar to see where else you can find this charming feature. 


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