Eric Stevenson This is a movie that was actually made way back in the 1950's, but wasn't released until 1993! That must be some record! This has to be one of the most boring movies I've seen in a long time. The movie starts by saying that this event is based on a true story. I know better than to trust any real life claims about the paranormal. This movie features a woman who's killed by a crossbow and most of this movie is nothing but detectives interviewing people. That's all there is! The characters are annoying and everyone is just so inactive in this film.I was at least hoping we would see some cool story about ghosts, but there were no ghosts at all! I believe at the end, it turns out that the woman didn't die at all, and the very few paranormal stuff we saw was just illusions. Yep, this movie title lied! It was talking about talking with the dead and it never even did that. I guess there might have been some supernatural stuff in this, but I didn't care to notice. While I don't believe in talking to the dead, this movie should have had some to make it interesting! *1/2

sharktrooper21 The field of meta-physics or "ghost studying" if you prefer is actually one of the more interesting fields out there. While unproven and with a very high chance of "hauntings" being explained, the occasional event that defies any explanation is quite thrilling. So it doesn't surprise me that the director or whoever was in charge of the the story was fascinated by this field.It doesn't change the fact that it's a piece of crap.Frankly the only reason this film didn't haunt the participants was due to the mercy of film obscurity that lasted for 30 years. The only person who truly suffered was the unlucky person who found it and watched it in it's uncut glory. By "uncut" I mean without the MST3K commentary. Definitely one of the funnier episodes of the late Comedy Central era. The funniest part has to be the scream uttered by the woman who finds the body. Definitely one of the funniest screams that I have heard.If you want to learn more about meta-physics, I suggest the series "Ghost Hunters".

bensonmum2 It's almost impossible to find out anything about The Dead Talk Back. It was made in 1956 or 1957 (depending on which sources you're look at) and immediately shelved. As far as I can tell, it was never shown anywhere. I'm assuming that sometime around 1993, Sinister Cinema found the film and somehow procured the rights to it and released it on video. I assume 1993 because that's the year listed on IMDb for the movies release. Somehow The Dead Talk Back came to the attention of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and was included on their Season 6 schedule. That's about it as far as the story behind The Dead Talk Back. If it weren't for MST3K, I doubt this thing would have more than 5 votes on IMDb.As for the movie, it's mind-numbingly awful. It's dull, uneventful, and a total waste of time. The acting ranges from over-the-top to, well, no acting at all. The special effects look like they came from a 1950s Radio Shack equivalent clearance sale. The plot attempts to include elements of horror, drama, mystery, science fiction, and every other genre you can name and fails miserably at each. There's so little entertainment value in The Dead Talk Back that the MST3K crew seemed to have trouble with it. They just didn't seem as "inspired" and, as a result, this is one of the weaker episodes of MST3K I've seen.

Michael H No budget murder/mystery film at it's best. This film was dug up in 1993 after it was decided that it shouldn't be released to the theaters. Why I don't know since there were decisions to release Manos: The hands of fate and the whole directorial library of cinematic genius Coleman Francis. Granted The Dead Talk Back is a crappy film but nothing compared to the Coleman Francis trilogy of terror!! We never do find if the dead really do talk back or if they go fishing with Robert Culp. Aldo Farnese plays Henry Krasker, part loopy scientist, part assistant to the LAPD who's asked by a local detective to find out who killed one of Henry's neighbors. is it the German perv? The religious fanatic? Francis the talking mule? Naw just the smooth DJ who had a brief fling with Renee. In the end you don't care except how Krasker got those neat grey streaks in his hair!!