Part 2-Ed Cahn and Romero Influenced Zombies

Edward L. Cahn was an editor at Universal during the Slient Era. He worked on films like "The Man Who Laughs" and "Jazz Mad". In 1926 he became chief editor. Five years later he directed his first film, the seldom seen and therefore underrated western LAW AND ORDER starring Walter Huston and Harry Carey.

My original review is here: http://http://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2008/06/westward-ho.html


The story concerns 4 violent and uncompromising lawmen who decide to settle down in a small town only to run up against a corrupt sheriff and some dishonest brothers. The movie got some good reviews but not much else. However Cahn kept plugging away, making movies like "The Gas House Kids In Hollywood" (1947) and "I Cheated The Law" (1949). He showed a little of "things to come" in 1950 when he made "Experiemnt Alcatraz" starring Robert Shayne (soon to be Inspector Henderson on TV's Superman) as a hardened crimminal who uses a rehabilitation experiment on "The Rock" as an excuse to kill a rival.

Then in 1955 Cahn unleashed the first of three movies that I believe had a big influence on George Romero and NOTLD, a little opus called THE CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN!!

The story concerns an evil gangster's revenge on the people who crossed him. But instead of the usual revenge technics like machine guns and time bombs this guy (portrayed by Michael Granger who would work for Cahn in future films) uses reanimated dead men to do his dirty work! They have pasty white faces and stitches (ala FRANKENSTEIN) around their foreheads where the gangster's mad scientist/war crimminal/creator has planted the title device! The gangster has a TV like screen that him enables him to see exactly what his undead army is doing. He even has a microphone and can project his voice through their bodies!

And he and the scientist do everything including the operations that transform the dead into zombies! Richard Denning (who would also star in Roger Corman's classic THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED) plays the police-scientist who figures out the whole thing when he notices the zombies leave radiation traces whenever they strike. This leads to an all out confrontation between the undead gang and a small group of soldiers and policemen. Close-ups in these scenes really remind you of NOTLD, especially it's well done TV parts. And shades of Al Adamson! Some of these scenes are used earlier in the film to depict the first creature attack!!!

My original review for it is here:
http://http://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2010/01/atom-brains.html
But this was only the first.......