CURSE OF THE UNDEAD (1959) is a cheapie western with an unusual twist: the story's hired gunfighter is a vampire who preys on the locals.
A product of the mid-20th Century era when entertainment was for some reason absolutely dominated by westerns, the film was clearly an atempt to add something, anything, different to a genre that was getting quite stale and that would not truly cease glutting the market for another full decade or so. The narrative violates many of the common rules of cinematic
vampires, but it's a decent yarn that plays like a weird episode of any
garden variety 1950's oater. It's eerie enough to hold the interest of
fledgling monster kids, and it's certainly a hell of a lot better than
the abysmal and unintentionally hilarious BILLY THE KID VERSUS DRACULA (1966). Definitely worth a watch for vampire completists, but don't expect any real scares.
Poster for the theatrical release.
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