Valley of the Zombies is a 1946 American horror film directed by Philip Ford, written by Dorrell McGowan and Stuart E. McGowan, and starring Robert Livingston, Adrian Booth, Ian Keith, Thomas E. Jackson, Charles Trowbridge and Earle Hodgins. The film is about Ormand Murks (Keith), who is recently brought back from the dead and tours the city for human blood, predominantly from his old enemies. This draws the attention of police lieutenant Blair (Jackson). Doctor Terry Evans (Livingston) decides to track down Murks to stop his murder spree.
The film was Ford's second film as a director as part of his contract at Republic Pictures. It was shot in September 1945 and released on May 24, 1946. Retrospective reviews predominantly focus on the lack of any zombies promised in the films title while finding the film lacking in thrills.
Plot[]
Five years earlier, Dr. Rufus Maynard put Ormand Murks into an insane asylum because Murks believed endless blood transfusions would make him immortal. Asylum director Dr. Lucifer Garland operated on Murks two years later, and Murks died on the operating table. Murks' body is turned over to a brother.
In the present, Murks returns and begins stealing blood from Dr. Maynard's lab. Murks reveals himself to Maynard, telling him that voodoo has kept him alive, and then kills Maynard and his lab assistant, Fred. Cops discover Maynard's half-buried body in a local cemetery. Detectives Blair and Hendricks accuse Maynard's partner, Dr. Terry Evans, and a nurse, Evans' girlfriend Susan Drake, of killing Maynard but have no proof. Discovering a connection between Maynard and Murks, Evans and Drake head to the Murks estate to look for clues. Murks tries trapping them in a mausoleum, but they escape. In the main house, Evans and Drake find the body of Dr. Garland.
Blair and Hendricks arrive, but Garland's body vanishes. Murks kidnaps Drake and takes her to Maynard's office, where he hypnotizes her and has her give him blood transfusions. The cops arrive and shoot Murks before he can order Susan to kill Terry.