Released in 1946 by Republic Pictures, Valley of the Zombies does not feature a single shambling corpse, which in the end, might be a little misdirection but the film turns out to be a whole lot of fun despite that.  Directed by Phillip Ford and written by Dorrell McGowan and Stuart E. McGowan they create a nice little movie that has a lot going for it and one that truly entertains.  Also, no valley.

Hellooo…. Nurse!

It turns out that a man named Ormond Murks, with an over the top performance by Ian Keith, has returned from the dead, supposedly, and now needs the blood of others to live.  Murks kills the doctor who committed him those many years ago and Lorna Gray who plays Nurse Susan Drake and Robert Livingston who plays Dr. Terry Evans get accused of it.  After some hilarity at the police station involving actor Thomas E. Jackson as Detective Blair, Susan and Terry are set free and they proceed to investigate the murder themselves and to clear their names.  More bodies eventually start to turn up and instead of getting free of the mess, they seem to get deeper in it, especially when Detective Blair shows up again.  Soon though, our protagonists win out when all is said and done.

The zombie – Ian Keith

So, no zombies.  That is fine as stated earlier, as the performances from our cast made this hour long feature more than worth it in the end.  Thomas E. Jackson has some great comedic timing and coupled with the banter from Gray and Livingston it makes for a very entertaining time.  Lorna Gray is really good as the nurse who is afraid of everything and while this was a horror film, the cast and everyone in it just seemed to be having a real fun time with it.  Ian Keith, who is our villain and said zombie/vampire creature, is campy and menacing at the same time but it is hard to take him seriously when there are so many laughs going on around him.

It is hard to say what Republic were thinking when they named this film Valley of the Zombies.  Perhaps it was a metaphor for the characters in the film, as they were the zombies for not understanding that sometimes people just need blood to live.  Or maybe we, the audience are the zombies and we will watch anything with the word zombies in the title.  Whatever the case, it was a decent little horror film with a lot of good laughs, some suspense and some mystery and some great moments from the cast. What more could you ask for?

3 out of 5