The Undead (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Revision as of 08:30, 12 May 2024
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The Undead is a 1957 horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Pamela Duncan, Allison Hayes, Richard Garland and Val Dufour. It also featured Corman regulars Richard Devon, Dick Miller, Mel Welles and Bruno VeSota. The authors' original working title was The Trance of Diana Love. The film follows the story of a prostitute, Diana Love (Duncan), who is put into a hypnotic trance by psychic Quintus (Dufour), thus causing her to regress to a previous life. Hayes later starred in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958). The film was released on March 15, 1957 by American International Pictures as a double feature with Voodoo Woman.
Plot
Quintus, a psychic researcher who has spent seven years in Tibet, wants to send someone back in time into a past life via hypnosis. He hires (for $500) a prostitute, Diana Love, and plans to send her into a trance over 48 hours so she can access her past life. Quintus' former professor is present to witness it.
Quintus puts Diana into a trance and sends her back into the Middle Ages, where she shares the body of her past self, Helene, who is in prison, sentenced to die at dawn under suspicion of being a witch. That night is the witches' Sabbath, and as tradition dictates, the townsfolk must kill any woman suspected of witchcraft to be safe for the rest of the year.
In her head, Helene can listen to Diana's voice. It suggests her to seduce the cell's guard until she is able to knock him out with her chains and escape. The plan works out, and Helene escapes prison, earning the attention of Livia (the witch for whose crimes Helene has been blamed) and of Satan himself. Livia is in love with the knight Pendragon, who only has eyes for Helene. Jealous, Livia constantly tries to get Helene captured without Pendragon knowing. Meanwhile, in the professor's office, Quintus discovers that Diana has changed the past. However, this creates a new complication, because if Helene evades execution, her future selves, including Diana, will never come into existence. As a proof of that, bruises start appearing on Diana's body. To save her, Quentin uses the psychic link between Diana and Helene to physically go back in time. However, once in the past, he starts getting tempted by the idea of being able to witness the results of history changing by Diana's decision.
Meanwhile, Helene tries to survive through the night, knowing that if she succeeds, she will have a whole year to prove her innocence, as the witches' Sabbath occurs once every twelve months. Among the people helping her is Pendragon, the good witch Meg-Maud and the madman Smolkin. Moments before dawn, Quintus manages to reach her and explain the consequences of her continuing to live. Not knowing what to do, she tells Quentin to use his powers of suggestions to make her able to speak with her future selves. All of them have fulfilling lives and wish to keep on existing. After listening to them, Helene accepts her fated death and runs to the local executioner. Pendragon goes after her but is stopped by Livia, who tries to convince him to let Helene die. Enraged, Pendragon kills Livia and tries to save Helene but arrives too late. Moments before dawn, Helene dies at the hands of the executioner. Diana wakes up from her trance, having fully recovered. However, now that her link with Helene has disappeared, Quintus is left physically stranded in the past, much to Satan's amusement.
Cast
- Pamela Duncan as Diana Love/Helene
- Richard Garland as Pendragon
- Allison Hayes as Livia
- Val Dufour as Quintus Ratcliff
- Mel Welles as Smolkin
- Dorothy Neumann as Meg-Maud
- Billy Barty as The Imp
- Bruno VeSota as Scroop
- Aaron Saxon as Gobbo
- Richard Devon as Satan
- Dick Miller as The Leper
- Paul Blaisdell as the corpse in the coffin
