Back from the Dead (1957)

Back from the Dead (1957). 1h 19m | Approved

“1957u0026#39;s u0026quot;Back from the Deadu0026quot; paired Arthur Franz and Peggie Castle as husband and wife Dick and Mandy Anthony, accompanied by her sister Kate (Marsha Hunt) to his California seaside home because of Mandyu0026#39;s pregnancy. The raging sea offers little comfort to the apprehensive Mandy, something calling out to her before an epileptic seizure that causes an unfortunate miscarriage. She awakens to call her husband u0026#39;Dickenu0026#39; and does not recognize her own sister, but when she refers to herself as u0026#39;Feliciau0026#39; Dick recognizes her as his first wife, who was believed to have drowned six years earlier. Since he never once mentioned Felicia to his new wife itu0026#39;s a mystery as to what has occurred, and when she goes to see the dead womanu0026#39;s parents there can be no doubt that Felicia is indeed u0026#39;back from the dead.u0026#39; The real star of the film is Marsha Hunt, easily out acting Franz and Castle, doggedly determined to free Mandy from the evil spell cast by local cult leader Maitre Renault (Otto Reichow), whose powers appear to be woefully inadequate if heu0026#39;s unable to dispatch the only person whou0026#39;s on to him. Virtually nothing is made of the Satanic cult, so itu0026#39;s less a case of u0026quot;The Exorcistu0026quot; than another run of the mill Bridey Murphy clone, reincarnation being such a hot topic at the time that author Catherine Turney only now was allowed to adapt her own 1952 novel into a sadly muddled script. Hunt herself correctly felt that it wasnu0026#39;t a good film but a solid premise that makes one stay tuned to see what happens; the main problem is that we never get to know the real Mandy before sheu0026#39;s possessed by u0026#39;Felicia,u0026#39; growing more predictable until the underwhelming climax. Double billed theatrically with u0026quot;The Unknown Terror,u0026quot; another less than sturdy effort from Western specialist Charles Marquis Warren, both films quickly forgotten once TV residuals subsided.”