Curse of the Undead (1959)

John Hoyt plays Dr. John Carter, who feels helpless because young girls are dying in the surrounding area, and he can’t seem to cure them.

To make matters worse, his neighbor, Buffer, has built a dam nearby, robbing the family’s ranch of the water it needs.

That family includes lovely young Dolores (Kathleen Crowley) and a hot-headed youth name Tim, who would prefer to settle the difference of opinion with Buffer via the gun.

In short fashion, Dr. Carter turns up dead, just as mysteriously as the young girls.

Tim blames Buffer, gets drunk and forces him into a gunfight. Tim loses, leaving the normally peaceful Dolores to seek revenge.

She places posters around town offering $100 to a gunman brave enough to take on Buffer.

Enter the dressed-in-black Drake Robey, who makes a living with his gun.

Preacher Dan Young (Eric Fleming) has been trying to resolve matters peacefully. He resents Robey, first for his inclination toward violence, then because of the effect he seems to be having on the suddenly detached Dolores.

So he starts delving into Robey’s past and is shocked at what he discovers. But will anyone believe him?

Review:

This strange mix of vampire-Western films is better than you would guess thanks to some snappy dialogue and a plot that isn’t just about vampires. It’s far better than the Dracula and Frankenstein hybrids that would appear in the 1960s.

Michael Pate, often cast as a gunman or henchman in secondary roles, gets to play the vampire who can’t be killed by bullets in this outing, so he has no fear of gunfights. But top billing went to Fleming in his role as the preacher who tries desperately to steer Dolores from Drake Robey.

The same year this film was released, Fleming began a starring role as Gil Favor on “Rawhide,” the same TV series that made a star of Clint Eastwood. Fleming would die in 1966 at age 41 while filming a TV scene in Peru.

Directed by:
Edward Dein

Cast:
Eric Fleming … Preacher Young
Michael Pate … Drake Robey
Kathleen Crowley … Dolores Carter
John Hoyt … Dr. John Carter
Bruce Gordon … Buffer
Ed Binns … The sheriff
Jimmy Murphy … Tim Carter

Runtime: 79 min.

Memorable lines:

Buffer to the sheriff: “This is a law-abiding town. Ain’t many lawbreakers here. You’re lucky to be working. You’re fancy trimming. No more. No less.”
Sheriff: “You blow real hard with these laughing hyenas around you. Just don’t pay them one month. They’ll tear you apart out of love and loyalty.”

Preacher Young: “All this raving about killing and revenge is as blasphemous as praying to the devil.”
Dolores Carter, after her father and brother have died in rapid succession: “If the devil can stop some of this pain in me, then I’ll even pray to him.”

Tim Carter, to the sheriff: “Don’t you move. This gun don’t care who it shoots.”

Drake Robey, upon Dolores’ suggestion that rooming in a building too close to the cemetery might bother him: “The dead don’t bother me. It’s the living that give me trouble.”

Preacher Young to Buffer: “You’re going to put up $5,000 in gold, with the sheriff. And if one nail falls out of one fence post on Dolores’ ranch, it’s going to cost you $1,000. And anytime anything goes wrong on her ranch, it’s going to cost you another $1,000. Since gold is your religion, that’s where we’ll hit you.”
Buffer: “That’s a lot of money.”
Preacher Young: “Not to a dead man.”

Preacher to Drake Robey: “Your force is the devil.”
Robey: “He’s so much a part of this world, he must be in me, too. Now remember, without the devil, you’d have no profession. You should be grateful.”