After Dr. Rufus Maynard (Charles Trowbridge) is found murdered, Dr. Terry Evans (Robert Livingston) and his pretty nurse Susan Drake (Lorna Gray) turn amateur detective to prove their innocence. Their investigation leads them to the home of insane undertaker Ormand Murks (Ian Keith), who has used a voodoo potion to achieve immortality, but who requires a constant supply of blood to stay alive.
This cheapo B-movie could be accused of misleading the viewer: with just a passing mention of the titular valley and only one 'zombie'-- the very alive looking Murks -- its credentials as a living dead movie are extremely questionable. The film is actually more of a murder/mystery as Evans and Drake sleuth their way into danger, stumbling across assorted embalmed corpses and becoming trapped in a creepy old crypt (while narrowly avoiding being throttled by the villain's hand which emerges slowly from the shadows -- very Scooby Doo!). It's routine stuff but, at under an hour long, the film doesn't outstay its welcome, and Keith, as cape-swishing, cane-wielding Murks, makes for a wonderfully theatrical bad guy.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for the 'hilarious' closing gag.
This cheapo B-movie could be accused of misleading the viewer: with just a passing mention of the titular valley and only one 'zombie'-- the very alive looking Murks -- its credentials as a living dead movie are extremely questionable. The film is actually more of a murder/mystery as Evans and Drake sleuth their way into danger, stumbling across assorted embalmed corpses and becoming trapped in a creepy old crypt (while narrowly avoiding being throttled by the villain's hand which emerges slowly from the shadows -- very Scooby Doo!). It's routine stuff but, at under an hour long, the film doesn't outstay its welcome, and Keith, as cape-swishing, cane-wielding Murks, makes for a wonderfully theatrical bad guy.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for the 'hilarious' closing gag.