“Cave of the Living Dead”
Movie #12 of the 2025 31-Days of Horror
For more information follow this link.
Detective Frank Dorin (Adrian Hoven) is sent to investigate the mysterious deaths of 6 young women in a small village near a grotto. Dorin soon discovers that something supernatural may be happening.
AKA Night of the Vampires, this is a German made horror film that leans heavily into mystery. Vampires? I was planning on zombies all month! Regardless, what a delightful change! As for the film, I was pleasantly surprised that the voice dubbing for this is much better than in most of the films I’ve seen. Actually, the sound quality in general was great. The music/score… well… that’s another conversation altogether. The music sounded like it belonged in one of the teen angst films of the era rather than a mystery/horror.
The ambience was mostly gothic with a few modern elements that were quite nice. It was also refreshing to have a detective who was willing to believe that something supernatural was happening rather than the tedious denial of it. The character’s willingness to work with both the local witch and the reclusive scientist’s black man-servant was also a pleasant change. I particularly enjoyed John Kitzmiller’s performance, as the professors’ manservant John, though his talent was wasted in the rather stereotypical role.
Yes, aside from the issues rising from the culture at the time, this was a surprisingly well done film. I will most certainly revisit it.
