Zombies of Mora Tau

Zombies of Mora Tau
File:Zombies of Mora Tau poster.jpg Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Edward L. Cahn
Produced by	Sam Katzman
Written by	George H. Plympton Bernard Gordon
Starring	Gregg Palmer Autumn Russell Allison Hayes Joel Ashley Morris Ankrum Marjorie Eaton
Music by	Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Cinematography	Benjamin H. Kline
Edited by	Jack Ogilvie
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	March 1957 (1957-03)
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Zombies of Mora Tau is a 1957 horror film directed by Edward L. Cahn from a screenplay by George H. Plympton and Bernard Gordon. Produced by Sam Katzman, it was also known by the title The Dead That Walk. Columbia Pictures released the film as a double bill with another Katzman B movie, The Man Who Turned to Stone.

Plot

A team of deep sea divers led by wealthy American tycoon George Harrison (Joel Ashley) attempt to salvage a fortune in diamonds from the wreckage of a ship that sunk 60 years earlier off the coast of Africa. When the team arrives, they discover that the ship is cursed and the diamonds are protected by the undead crew who are now zombies, forced to guard the treasure until the diamonds are destroyed or the curse is finally lifted.

Cast

• Gregg Palmer as Jeff Clark
• Joel Ashley as George Harrison
• Allison Hayes as Mona Harrison
• Autumn Russell as Jan Peters
• Morris Ankrum as Dr. Jonathan Eggert
• Marjorie Eaton as Grandmother Peters
• Gene Roth as Sam, the chauffeur
• Leonard P. Geer as Johnny
• Karl "Killer" Davis as First Zombie
• Frank Hagney as Captain John Peters
• William Baskin as Zombie
• Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Sailor

DVD release

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on DVD in October 2007 as part of the two-disc, four-film set Icons of Horror Collection - Sam Katzman, along with three other films produced by Katzman (Creature with the Atom Brain, The Werewolf and The Giant Claw).

Reception

David Maine of PopMatters rated it 6 out of 10 stars and described it as "pretty entertaining overall, and enlivened immeasurably by Ms. Eaton’s fiesty grandma". TV Guide rated it 2 out of 5 stars and called it "standard horror quality for grade-B films". Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle said, "This awkward and talentless movie is nonetheless surprisingly prescient in zombie film history, anticipating a number of motifs that would reappear in later decades." Zombiemania: 80 Movies to Die For author Arnold T. Blumberg wrote that the film is "a fun late-night creature feature, but it's prone to boring passages and a low-rent production quality that never allows it to break out of the B-movie mold," adding that the film is "almost single-handedly saved by the Maria Ouspenskaya/Celia Lovsky stylings of actress Marjorie Eaton, who lends the film an impressive conviction as well as a wry approach to her already sharp dialogue."

See also

• List of zombie films

External links

• Zombies of Mora Tau at IMDb
• Zombies of Mora Tau at Rotten Tomatoes