Back From The Dead (1957)
Directed by Charles Marquis Warren
Written by Catherine Turney
Starring Peggie Castle, Arthur Franz, Marsha Hunt and Don Haggerty
Running Time 79 minutes
Available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, here

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport & Editor in Chief

Back of the box synopsis:

Mandy (Peggie Castle) has not been feeling well since arriving at her husband Dick’s house on the craggy California coastline. Things get worse—and weirder—when she is suddenly possessed by the spirit of Dick’s dead ex-wife, Felicia! Mandy’s sister (Marsha Hunt) and Dick (Arthur Franz) desperately want Mandy back, but there are many people who have been waiting a long time for Felicia’s return. Sinister people who practice the Black Arts…who will stop at nothing to make sure Felicia is Back from the Dead. Get hypnotized by this strange and eerie tale directed by Charles Marquis Warren, adapted by Catherine Turney from her novel, “The Other One”, and shot by Ernest Haller (Gone with the Wind) in gorgeous, black-and-white “Regalscope.”

Features that make it special…

• Brand new HD Master by Paramount Pictures from a 4K Scan

  • Film pals! The image looks incredible and crisp

• (2) Audio Commentaries

  • Film historians: Tom Weaver, Gary D. Rhodes and Larry Blamire

  • Film historians: David Del Valle and Dana M. Reemes

• English subtitles

Why you need to add it to your video library… 

“You can’t get rid of me.”

Back From The Dead hooked me from the first frame. Waves are crashing into a rocky shore, eerie music plays, and within the first few moments a corpse is thrown from atop of a cliff… I was entranced. Nothing quite thrills me more than a murder in the opening scene.

With such a swift runtime, I was aghast at how much punch this film was able to pack. In a mere seventy-nine minutes I experienced: murder, spirit possession, a satanic cult, nefarious curses, sacrificial rituals, and black magic. All of this awesomeness is presented in mesmerizing REGALSCOPE! This is the first time that I have heard of this type of presentation. Therefore, it led me down a bit of a rabbit hole. Many films between 1953 to 1967 were shot using anamorphic lenses to provide wide-screen film projection. This created an image that was approximately twice the usual width that would then be squeezed into a 35mm frame. This technique was referred to as CinemaScope and required movie theaters to then project the film utilizing a complementary lens. CinemaScope was utilized for what studios considered to be “A” productions, whereas RegalScope was used for black and white cinematography, which were seen as “B” pictures. Frankly, for a film such as Back From The Dead, the monochrome photography adds to the atmospheric seaside location and supernatural story.

This is an incredible little picture that is sure to offer chills and thrills, compliments of the great ensemble cast. I was especially pleased to be introduced to Peggie Castle. She delivered quite a menacing performance as the former wife Felicia. I love to see an actor play a dual role and Peggie did not disappoint. This may have been the first time we have spent together, but it won’t be the last. I also have a fondness for female scriptwriters and, upon some further digging, I found that Back From The Dead was penned by Catherine Turney. She was also responsible for writing the novel it was based on entitled The Other One. Additionally, Catherine was one of the first women to become a contract worker at Warner Brothers and would go to write several screenplays for Barbara Stanwyck, amongst other popular Hollywood starlets of the time.

I am always a supporter of physical media and, in this case it is the only way to view Back From The Dead, I urge you to add it your collection posthaste! The next time a rainy day comes your way, this is a flick you won’t regret sliding into your player.

Purchase Back From The Dead on Kino Lorber, here