The Walking Dead (1936) [Warner Archive Blu-ray review]

The Walking Dead is a mid 1930s horror film of the proud Warner Brothers tradition. A wrongfully executed ghoul has risen from the dead for revenge. Who can strike him down? What made him come back? All of these things will be answered in another stunning horror outing from the directing legend Michael Curtiz! Now, available on Blu-ray for the first time from Warner Archive, take a step back into early horror cinema.

What is The Walking Dead all about?

Ex-con John Ellman (Boris Karloff) is framed for murder by unscrupulous racketeers and a corrupt judge. He’s railroaded, executed, and then resurrected via a scientist’s experimental procedure. Now reanimated, Ellman roams about with a hazy sense of purpose, possibly endowed with uncanny psychic insight. He begins systematically confronting, if not outright punishing, the men who orchestrated his downfall. We see elements of gangster tropes—shady deals, double-crosses—and horror mainstays—otherworldly vengeance, the living dead. This might have been overshadowed by bigger Karloff vehicles. But it’s got enough atmosphere and pathos to stand on its own as a special entry in his filmography.

Movies like this are what make me slap on my horror movie nerd cap and wonder if this was the difference between how things turned out for Lugosi and Karloff. While there is a big X Factor at play, both were classic stage actors. They came up in similar circumstances, but even in the horror trappings…Karloff was allowed to venture out deeper than Lugosi. But, at the same time I couldn’t see Lugosi working a role like this.

Just think of the film history!

The Walking Dead arrived during the Production Code era, so any explicit gore or scandal was off-limits. Instead, the horror relies on moral dread. In many ways, that prefigures the subtlety of 1940s horror—an era dominated by psychological tension (think Val Lewton’s Cat People in 1942, where you hardly see the monster). So you might say it’s a stepping stone from the more bombastic early 1930s monsters to the moody, atmospheric horrors of the 1940s.

The Walking Dead was not billed as a top-tier prestige picture. In the 1930s, studios pumped out a staggering number of lower-budget productions to fill double bills. The runtime is only 66 minutes, consistent with the “programmer” style. But having both Karloff and Curtiz attached hints that Warner Bros. expected more than just a cheap quickie. Karloff was a recognized name in horror. Curtiz was a dependable craftsman who could handle multiple genres. Pairing them made sense, giving the film a marketing hook: “See the man behind Dracula’s big competition star in a crime-horror hybrid from one of Warner’s rising directors.”

Given the breakneck production schedules of the era, the final product is impressively cohesive. Some aspects—like certain supporting players or a few abrupt plot transitions—betray the speed of shooting. But the synergy between Karloff’s personal performance and Curtiz’s moody visuals ensures the film stands out. By the time it hit theaters, it likely served as a “shocker” on double bills, with an emphasis on the tagline “He returns from the grave for vengeance!” or something along those lines. Audiences might have come expecting a typical Karloff monster flick, only to find an odd, heartfelt tragedy wrapped in gangster trappings.

Apparently, it does have a following now and it just missed me

In subsequent decades, scholars of classic horror have singled out The Walking Dead for being more than a “monster mash.” They point to Karloff’s subdued performance and Curtiz’s emergent noir styling. Devotees of short-run, offbeat 1930s flicks see it as a hidden gem. It’s not in the pantheon of must-see horrors like The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, or The Black Cat, but it’s comfortably in that second tier. Maybe “cult favorite” is too strong, but it’s definitely a curious footnote that, once discovered, endears itself to fans.

The big question remains: Is The Walking Dead any good?

Unlike certain Karloff vehicles that reduce him to a monstrous presence, The Walking Dead positions him as a tragic figure yearning for peace. There’s a flicker of redemption in the final moments, the sense that only by exposing the guilty can Ellman rest. The cynicism toward man-made institutions (courts, politics, gangster networks) is offset by a suggestion that some higher cosmic justice might still exist, intangible but unstoppable. That’s a thoughtful angle for a so-called B-movie.

While it’s a short movie, the amount of flexibility that The Walking Dead grants Karloff is astonishing. It’s why I’m a big fan of Warner Archive diving back deep into the past to give the genre fare as much love as their prestige pictures and Oscar winners. Monster movies and gangster films are the mortar that built the studios and films we love today.

So, what exactly is on the Warner Archive Blu-ray?

The Walking Dead lands its own Warner Archive Blu-ray with a ton of special features. By a ton, let me break it down for you. You have an old commentary from historian Greg Mank. You also get a brand new commentary from Alan K. Rode that has kicked me down a rabbit hole of 1930s horror. You get a Michael Curtiz documentary and some classic cartoons. Plus, a trailer!

If you only ever saw The Walking Dead on old DVDs or TCM broadcasts, you’ll find this Blu-ray a refreshing improvement. The moody lighting that Curtiz uses so effectively is best appreciated in a stable HD image. No more muddy gray blacks or washed-out highlights. Scenes in jails or labs gain extra dimension. The short runtime works in the transfer’s favor: it’s not a huge file to encode, so compression artifacts rarely appear.

Give the Walking Dead a chance on this stunning Warner Archive Blu-ray. Boris Karloff acts his undead butt off and you don’t have to listen to Chris Hardwick opine about it after the movie is finished. That’s what we call a Win-Win!

The Walking Dead is now available on Warner Archive Blu-ray from MovieZyng and other outlets!

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