Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

In order to dispose of an honest judge a small group of racketeers hire a local gunman to kill him and then set up a recently released convict named "John Ellman" (Boris Karloff) to take the fall. Sure enough, John Ellman is convicted and then sent to the electric chair due in large part because of two witnesses named "Jimmy" (Warren Hull) and his girlfriend "Nancy" (Marguerite Churchill) who wait too long to come forward. Fortunately, a physician named "Dr. Beaumont" (Edmund Gwenn) comes up with a novel idea to bring John Ellman back to life even though he has been dead for several hours. Although his plan succeeds there is something much different about John which nobody can quite seem to figure out. Now rather than reveal any more of the plot and risk spoiling this movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that for a short, relatively low-budget motion picture produced in 1936 this film turned out to be quite good all things considered. I especially liked the performances of Boris Karloff and to a lesser degree that of Marguerite Churchill along with the nifty (albeit now antique) cars used in this movie. Be that as it may, I enjoyed this film and rate it as above average.

A bit of Frankenstein here, as a doctor (Edmund Gwenn)resurrects a man (Boris Karloff) wrongfully executed. It was fun seeing Oscar winner Gwenn, who I have enjoyed many times as Santa in Miracle on 34th Street.The zombified Karloff knows the people who framed him, but he doesn't know how he knows. He is searching for answers, visiting each of the conspirators, who meet an untimely end.It is all presented as vengeance emanating from the hand of God. Karloff is excellent, and Gwenn was certainly showing the talent that would give him an Oscar later.A fascinating film.

First off, I rated this flick a '7' because I like the old Hollywood stuff. From that, my first real fascination was with the "Universal" monster stuff, particularly 1936 and before. With that in mind, here is my review. Quite simply, this is a Warner Brothers 'knockoff' of the Whale/Karloff Frankenstein films, with a particularly strong nod to 1935's "Bride". The entire time I was watching, including the 'scientific' scenes, I kept seeing the 'Monster'. A couple of very 'telling' things: the Karloff character removes his dentures after the re-animation sequence. There is a silver streak in his hair at the same height as the 'monsters' flat head. He is dressed in the same dark outfit, and lumbers around. The imagery is strong. While the over the top Jack Pierce make-up is absent, the lighting, etc, and the above things mentioned create a more 'human monster' visual, but it is there. Next similarity.....in the first "Frankenstein", one could be forgiven for not finding the monster altogether sympathetic. After all, despite Whale/Karloff's sympathetic presentation, the thing is a child killer. He also ends the film in murderous rage directed at Henry. However, in "Bride", there is no such ambiguity. With the exception of the first murder (Maria's father underneath the mill), we are clearly shown who the 'victim' is in the film. The film score in "Bride" is exquisite as well, a slow pulse throbbing underneath a majestic arrangement. Enough of the set-up. In "The Walking Dead", I saw the sympathetic reanimated Karloff character (looking much like the 'monster' in the shadows) lumbering around while some really bad 'know it all characters' get their comeuppance, one by one. There is a similarly soaring film score delivered over an insistent bass pulse. Where this film differs is, instead of the "Universal" staples of 'mad doctor', Una O'Conner type comic relief/character actors, you get the Warners staples. Cynical lawyers, DA's and gangsters, etc. All of that said, I enjoyed this film. I probably hadn't seen it in 35 years, if at all. All of those things that may seem like negatives, as written above? I like the Warners 'stock characters' and love the "Universal" monster stuff. I just saw all the similarities, and noted the year of 1936. This film definitely was targeting a particular audience...the "Universal Audience". Ms. Churchill even appeared in that sexy scene from "Dracula's Daughter" featuring Gloria Holden that very year. I thought Cortez did his "Warners thing" well in this flick, and Mr. Glenn was good. If you like the kind of flicks I do, you'll enjoy seeing this as a curio. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I do not see this as some type of 'forgotten classic'. Far too many plot holes. (the most famous guy in the world, being watched by everybody, seems to effortlessly disappear and reappear without anyone noticing, and in the most OBVIOUS of places). But again, for what it is (a genre knockoff), it is well directed, well filmed, and has all of the right people in all of the right places.

Reading most of the other viewer comments on this board, I was surprised that virtually no one had anything to say about the whitish 'L' shaped band in Boris Karloff's hair. It was reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart's skunk like streak in "The Return of Dr. X" where he portrayed a vampire of all things! In "The Walking Dead", Karloff is an ex-con brought back from the dead after being framed for a murder he didn't commit. Once revived, he exacts his revenge on the gang that set him up, using a psychic link from the beyond to track them down and lead them to their doom. For the premise of the story to work however, one has to get beyond the point where the murdered Judge Shaw was connected to the car John Ellman (Karloff) was driving. With no one around, why wouldn't Ellman simply have found a place to dump the body?The other thing that bothered me was why the conflicted young couple working for Dr. Beaumont waited until the evening of Ellman's scheduled execution to come clean with their story. I mean Jimmy (Warren Hull) was jumping right out of his skin at the trial to tell what he knew, and it didn't strike me convincingly that Nancy (Marguerite Churchill) would let an innocent man die. I know, then there wouldn't have been a story, but gee, that makes them the film's really, REALLY bad guys, doesn't it?I must say, I was unusually impressed by the size and scope of Dr. Beaumont's (Edmund Gwenn) laboratory. It looked like Warner Brothers might have been trying to outdo their Universal counterparts in the technical gadgetry department with all those beakers and scientific looking gizmos. They even did one better on the Frankenstein operating table with one that see-sawed during the back to life process - pretty clever. The other Frankenstein connection saw Karloff's character walking through the cemetery after his last two victims using that distinctive halting gait.Fans of Boris Karloff might not consider this one of his better performances, but it still carries some punch whenever the camera closes in on his gaunt expressionless face. After all, he was dead you know. Which is kind of interesting, as this is one of those rare films where the zombie brought back to life is actually killed again before it's all over. Better not to try and explain it, just tune in for a frightfully good show.