The Walking Dead (1936) - Warner Archive Collection

If you think The Walking Dead is just a TV series about the zombie apocalypse, think again. Hollywood's iconic monster man Boris Karloff gives those small-screen ghouls a run for their money in this almost 90-year-old big-screen horror flick that's deliciously creepy and wonderfully entertaining. Directed with flair and plenty of energy by the prolific Michael Curtiz, 1936's The Walking Dead is one of those forgotten movies that's revered by the horror intelligentsia, but unknown to most classic movie fans.

Running a brisk 66 minutes, this atmospheric B movie chronicles the efforts of a cocky group of racketeers to evade prosecution after one of their partners in crime is convicted and sent up the river. The gangsters, led by the devious and suave Nolan (Ricardo Cortez), conspire to bump off the judge who presided over their cohort's trial, and they frame the unwitting John Ellman (Karloff), newly released from prison following a 10-year sentence imposed by the same judge, for the murder.

Despite evidence that proves his innocence, the mild-mannered John is found guilty and sent to the electric chair. Dr. Beaumont (Edmund Gwenn), who has fashioned an artificial heart in his laboratory, is granted permission to conduct experiments on John's freshly dead body, and before anyone can say "Frankenstein," he revives John, even going so far as to shout "He's alive!" when John takes his first breath. Though John is now a shell of a man, he becomes strangely drawn to the men who engineered his death. And when he confronts them - one by one - strange and violent events occur.

Despite its Frankenstein overtones, The Walking Dead is very much its own movie, and trying to guess how John will inadvertently exact revenge on his adversaries keeps us engrossed in this macabre tale. The screenplay is pedestrian at best, but it deftly merges the horror and gangster genres and foreshadows the implantation of artificial organs in humans that would come to fruition decades later. (At the time of the film's production, artificial organs were already in the early stages of development, so it was kind of a hot topic.)

Curtiz, who finally broke out of the B movie mold and received an Oscar nod for Captain Blood the previous year, surely viewed The Walking Dead as a giant step backwards, but like a loyal company man he accepted the studio assignment and attacked it with customary gusto. No stranger to horror (he directed the excellent Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum a few years before), Curtiz was an obvious choice to helm The Walking Dead, and his interesting camera angles and impeccable sense of atmosphere and pacing elevate the film, despite its low budget. All the talent that would win Curtiz an Oscar for Casablanca seven years later is on full display here, but in a more concentrated form.

Karloff, though, is the one who makes The Walking Dead really special. Say what you will about the part being a Frankenstein retread; Karloff fought to make it as unique as possible and largely succeeds. Originally, like the monster in Frankenstein, John had no dialogue, but Karloff convinced the writers to give him some, and it makes his character more compelling, more human, and more sympathetic. Karloff doesn't need the words - his expressive face speaks volumes through a series of powerful, mesmerizing close-ups - but they add plausibility and relatability to the film, which in turns makes The Walking Dead even more suspenseful and chilling.

Gwenn is in top form as the benevolent doctor, exhibiting some of the wonder and wisdom that would make his Kris Kringle so endearing in Miracle on 34th Street 11 years later. Classic movie fans also will surely recognize the blustery Barton MacLane as one of the arrogant and sadistic gangsters and Henry O'Neill as the upstanding district attorney who unwittingly plays into the racketeers' hands.

Horror and gangster pictures were a dime a dozen in 1930s Hollywood, but The Walking Dead stood out enough to make a tidy profit and holds up amazingly well today. Curtiz and Karloff craft a riveting film that delivers its crime-does-not-pay message on a more spiritual level than most movies of its day and without the obvious acquiescence to censorship. The Walking Dead may have been a flash in the pan at the time of its release, but it further cemented Karloff's lofty reputation as the premier horror actor of the era and allowed Curtiz to climb out of the B picture catacombs once and for all. Today, it's just a load of horror fun.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

The Walking Dead arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

Another brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative yields another five-star Warner Archive transfer. Does this get boring? Absolutely not! The 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer boasts rich blacks, vivid whites, a pleasing grayscale, and excellent shadow delineation, all of which produce a lovely film-like image that faithfully honors the cinematography of two-time Oscar-winner Hal Mohr. The natural grain structure remains intact and wonderfully sharp close-ups allow us to drink in every cranny, crevice, pore, and bushy eyebrow on Karloff's very expressive face. A couple of missing frames momentarily disrupt the proceedings, but no age-related dirt, nicks, or scratches mar the otherwise pristine print. It's impossible to imagine The Walking Dead looking any better than it does here, so horror fans shouldn't hesitate to upgrade.  

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track thrusts us into the creepy narrative with high-quality sound. A bit of faint surface noise can be detected here and there, but it never detracts from the on-screen action. Sonic accents like thunder, howling winds, and the tapping of a teletype machine are distinct, while subtle atmospherics like rain come through cleanly. Fine fidelity and tonal depth help the score by Bernhard Kaun, best known for composing the music for Karloff's Frankenstein a few years earlier, fill the room and all the dialogue is easy to comprehend. 

A fairly substantial supplemental package adds heft to the disc.

• Audio Commentary by film historian Greg Monk

• NEW Audio Commentary by film historian and author Alan K. Rode

• Documentary: Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You've Never Heard Of (HD, 37 minutes) - Recycled from the Casablanca 4K disc and previous Casablanca Blu-ray, this celebratory 2011 documentary includes tributes and analysis from directors William Friedkin and Steven Spielberg, film historian Rudy Behlmer, Curtiz biographer Alan K. Rode, and others. We learn about Curtiz's career, his style and technique, poor treatment of actors, butchering of the English language, fervid patriotism, and personal life. Clips from such Curtiz classics as Noah's Ark, Doctor X, Captain Blood, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mildred Pierce, and, of course, Casablanca are included as well.

• Vintage Cartoon: The Cat Came Back (HD, 8 minutes) - This 1935 Merrie Melodies Technicolor cartoon amusingly depicts the training of young cats to capture mice and the training of young mice to evade them. All that goes out the window, though, when a little cat and mouse become friends.

• Vintage Cartoon: Let It Be Me (HD, 8 minutes) - Also in Technicolor, this 1936 cartoon focuses on a hearthrob chicken crooner named Bingo (hmmm, I wonder who he's modeled after) and how he disrupts the love lives of his devoted female fans.

• Original Theatrical Trailer (SD, 1 minute)

The Walking Dead may be one of Boris Karloff's lesser known films, but it gives the actor a plum role that he plays to the hilt. Typically stylish direction from Michael Curtiz also elevates this suspenseful, atmospheric B movie. A brand new 4K scan of the original camera negative and remastered audio make this almost 90-year-old movie look and sound better than ever before. Highly Recommended.