From what I understand, writer Curt Siodmak basically hacked this story out, as opposed to the more careful,serious novels and stories he built his reputation on. Even so, and even with some of the more carelessly thrown together elements of the movie, the strength of the story comes through. As a fried of mine who watched the movie with me commented,you can almost always tell when a real writer had a hand in the story.
I've also heard that this director was something of a minor talent, but he tended to rise or fall to meet the level of quality of the story he was telling. He keeps things moving briskly here. Aside from a few obvious filler sequences involving driving or necessary exposition, there isn't really any dead space in the movie...so the viewer doesn't get a chance to really think about the absurdity of the premises or some of the unwise story choices that might otherwise detract from enjoying the movie.
I've always enjoyed watching Richard Denning in various roles in and out of movies and TV - he can give a smart, humane, energetic feel to his heroes and seems instantly likable as an actor. The actor who plays the gangster Buchanan and the hapless Captain who gets zombified are also quite good at what they do and in the way they play their characters.
I'm still not sure why a gangster who had control of a small army of atomic powered zombies would waste his energy and time on revenge when he could have his minions rob any bank in the city and use terrorist tactics to make millions, but we'll skip right over that, and over the part where the heroes neglect to inform the army detachment that backs them up that the zombies are essentially immune to anything but head shots...and over the facts that both the gangster and the professor who aids him should be long dead of radiation poisoning before the final events of the movie (the professor steps out for a beer, and it is discovered that everything he has touched is hotter than a pistol.) Good move, great fun. If I had been 10 years old when I first saw it, I am pretty sure I would have thought it was better than "Gone With The Wind".
I've also heard that this director was something of a minor talent, but he tended to rise or fall to meet the level of quality of the story he was telling. He keeps things moving briskly here. Aside from a few obvious filler sequences involving driving or necessary exposition, there isn't really any dead space in the movie...so the viewer doesn't get a chance to really think about the absurdity of the premises or some of the unwise story choices that might otherwise detract from enjoying the movie.
I've always enjoyed watching Richard Denning in various roles in and out of movies and TV - he can give a smart, humane, energetic feel to his heroes and seems instantly likable as an actor. The actor who plays the gangster Buchanan and the hapless Captain who gets zombified are also quite good at what they do and in the way they play their characters.
I'm still not sure why a gangster who had control of a small army of atomic powered zombies would waste his energy and time on revenge when he could have his minions rob any bank in the city and use terrorist tactics to make millions, but we'll skip right over that, and over the part where the heroes neglect to inform the army detachment that backs them up that the zombies are essentially immune to anything but head shots...and over the facts that both the gangster and the professor who aids him should be long dead of radiation poisoning before the final events of the movie (the professor steps out for a beer, and it is discovered that everything he has touched is hotter than a pistol.) Good move, great fun. If I had been 10 years old when I first saw it, I am pretty sure I would have thought it was better than "Gone With The Wind".