The Undead (1957)

A beautiful woman is sent back in time via hypnosis to the Middle Ages where she finds she is suspected of being a witch, and subject to being executed.

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Charles B. Griffith (screenplay) (as Charles Griffith), Mark Hanna (screenplay)

Stars:

Pamela Duncan, Richard Garland, Allison Hayes

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Pamela Duncan	...	Diana Love / Helene
Richard Garland	...	Pendragon
Allison Hayes	...	Livia - a Witch
Val Dufour	...	Quintus Ratcliff
Mel Welles	...	Smolkin - the gravedigger
Dorothy Neumann	...	Meg Maud - a Witch
Billy Barty	...	The Imp
Bruno VeSota	...	Scroop - the innkeeper (as Bruno Ve Sota)
Richard Devon	...	Satan
Maurice Manson	...	Professor Ulbrecht Olinger
Aaron Saxon	...	Gobbo - the Jailer
Don Garrett	...	The Knight (as Don Garret)
Dick Miller	...	The Leper (as Richard Miller)

Storyline

Two psychical researchers procure the services of a lady of the night and send her back in time under hypnosis. She finds herself in the body of a past existence - a woman in medieval times waiting to be beheaded as a witch. By avoiding this fate she unwittingly starts to alter history.

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Plot Keywords:

devil | 1950s | middle ages | altering history | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

A thousand years of naked terror!

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

15 March 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Trance of Diana Love

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roger Corman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Featured as the movie in the 6th episode of the 8th season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, when the episode aired on the Sci-Fi network

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Goofs

"Stone" wall shakes noticeably during Gobbo and Pendragon's scuffle in the Tower of Death.

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Quotes

Smolkin - the gravedigger: Merry, Merry, more to bury, how does my garden grow? With marble stones, and ankle bones, and relatives all in a row!

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Witches (1996)

User Reviews

Not bad, considering.

I have seen this weird little movie twice. The first was on MST3K and then I saw the straightforward version on AMC. I must say that this is the only movie I've seen on MST3K that did not fully deserve it's treatment. Granted there are a lot of problems with the film. The perfomers, for the most part, were mediocre. But not so bad as to make the film unwatchable.

The production values had the distinct odor of cheese to them, but what can you expect from circa 1957?

The plotline is interesting. A mad scientist hires a street hooker to be a guinea pig on his experiments on past life regession. He transports the woman to 16th century Europe where, in this incarnation, she is a witch. The woman has to make a choice of whether or not to allow her past incarnation to die so her future lives can come into being-or stay in the past to live with her lover. Of course this guy is such a twit, death might be preferable to a lifetime with him. So maybe she really had no choice, after all.

What makes this so interesting is that the whole thing had a anachronistic new-agey quasi-feminist tone that is about ten years ahead of it's time. I actually found myself ignoring Mike and the 'bots and trying to concentrate on what was going on in the film. It's the first time that had ever happened. When I saw the non-MSTie version I actually grew to like it. Check it out. You might be surprised.