Classic Horrors Club

Future recipient of the British Distinguished Flying Cross award, Barry Mahon returned from WWII a war hero and became Errol Flynn’s personal pilot. This led him to a producing gig, including Crossed Swords (1954), starring Flynn and Gina Lollobrigida. Soon, though, he widened his horizons by producing and directing over 70 drive-in movies in the T&A, horror, and children’s genres. Emphasis on the T&A; even one that sounds like a horror movie, The Beast That Killed Women (1965), takes place in a nudist colony.

His first horror film, and seventh overall, The Dead One (1961), is as simple a story as you could have and perfectly demonstrates what Mahon means when he says:

We have not aimed for the single picture that is going to make us rich. We are looking for the business that’s like turning out Ford cars or anything else. If there is a certain profit per picture and we make so many pictures, then we have established a business that is on a basis that’s economical.

The story follows John Carlton (charismatic John McKay) and his new bride, Linda (Linda Ormond) as they take their honeymoon to Kenilworth, the plantation he inherited upon his marriage. His cousin, Monica (Monica Davis), doesn’t want Kenilworth to change hands, and uses voodoo rituals to summon their relative, Jonas (Clyde Kelly), from the grave to dispose of them. That’s it; no big whoop.

However, there are some head-scratchingly fun details that liven the story. At least a third of the movie’s 68-minute running time is spent in New Orleans, while John shows Linda a night on the town. They visit Joe Burton’s, the Dream Room, the Jazz Room, etc. and we all watch/listen to most of each performance that takes place in the different venues. For a travelogue, I suppose there’s historical interest. For excitement, there’s very little interest.

While at the Dream Room, the couple meets belly dancer Bella Bella (Darlene Myrick.) Later, they pass her on the road when her car breaks down… and invite her to join them on their honeymoon while she waits for it to be repaired. Let me repeat: the newlyweds invite a belly dancer on their honeymoon! Linda seems on board, but she doesn’t demonstrate much agency. It’s nothing lurid, though. John obviously has no interest in her and jokingly asks her to exit their bedroom.

Before the drums start beating and Jonas wakes from his long nap, Monica’s superstitions are no secret. When revealed, Bella tells John, “I like your cousin, Monica, but isn’t she a little kooky?” He replies, “No intelligent person believes in voodoo.” Believe in it or not, Jonas does rise, looking like a bargain basement version of Michael Jackson in the ‘Thriller’ music video. In long scenes when he’s shambling along, there’s the wet, sucking sound of a dentist’s saliva ejector.

It’s almost comedic the way characters just miss each other when passing in front of the stationary camera used to film The Dead One. John and Linda return to the house just missing Jonas carrying Bella Bella out. Later John runs back to the house, just missing Jonas leaving it. He’s slow to accept what’s happening, and tells Linda it’s just someone dressed as Jonas. No, John, he’s real, and there’s no Scooby-Doo ending. In this universe, sunlight is the enemy of the zombie, and the monster fades as quickly as this movie fades from our memories.