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Once upon a time zombies weren't the flesh-eating ghouls as depicted in Land of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and scores of straight-to-DVD imitators ripping off George Romero's vision. Instead, zombies were simply mindless lunkheads under the complete control of a diabolical master, easily manipulated into doing whatever they were told. But what with White Zombie (1932) as an indication of where zombies were then, I'm even gladder that where they've come to now is a lot more exciting.
Young rubber baron Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer) has invited an American employee, Neil Parker (John Harron), and his lovely fiancée Madeleine (Madge Bellamy) to hold their wedding on his plantation in Haiti.
Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy
But Beaumont's intentions aren't so friendly, as he promptly sets about attempting to woo Madeleine into his arms.
When all other methods fail, Beaumont turns to a local witch doctor with the decidedly unsubtle name of Murder (Bela Lugosi) to concoct a potion to put her under a spell, the same drug that Murder himself has used to turn locals into mindless zombie slaves put to work in his own mill. The drug works, and soon the world believes Madeleine has died, while Beaumont whisks her off to his home. But when he finds out that he doesn't like her as an emotionless shell, Murder puts his own nefarious plans into action, and it's up to Neil and a doctor friend (Joseph Cawthorn) to save the day before Madeleine is lost to him forever.
The great thing about horror films from the era of White Zombie is that due to censors and restrictions on what could be shown onscreen, a lot of these movies had to think on their toes and come up with more sly ways of terrifying audiences. The downside is that a good portion of these flicks turned out to be dreadfully slow and unexciting, and unfortunately, White Zombie finds itself as a member of this latter group.
Bela Lugosi as "Murder"
Like Universal's Dracula, which Lugosi hit the scene in a year before this film, White Zombie suffers most from a nasty habit of prolonging scenes where, instead of generating suspense, things just kind of remain inert. No ominous music, no scary action, just a camera lingering around a dark road in case something freaky happens. At a few hairs over an hour's length, the film still surprisingly takes its sweet time in getting to where it wants to go.
This goes without saying that White Zombie often is quite the atmospheric little ditty. There's not much else that tops Bela Lugosi's very stare, a pair of eyes that seem to look right into you and let you know that he can make your worst nightmares come true. The zombies themselves are also pretty spooky, not the bloodthirsty Romero kind but rather emotionless creations that silently carry out Murder's sinister orders. But the film isn't nearly as consistently startling as it could have been. The oomph of the scares is lessened not only by an inactive sense of carrying on with the story but also by the main story itself. Lugosi's character aside, all the viewer has to work with is a yawner of a soap opera, in which two whiny white guys fight over a girl who spends most of the movie either talking in a wispy voice or staring off screen like something much more exciting was taking place behind the cameras.
Robert Frazer, zombie,
Bela Lugosi
White Zombie is worth a look for its few moments of eerie imagery and an equally creepy performance from Lugosi. But although the flick was probably really something in its day, White Zombie has aged about as well as a corpse.
Director: Victor Halperin
Writer: Garnett Weston
Cast: Bela Lugosi, John Harron, Madge Bellamy, Charles Beaumont, Joseph Cawthorn, Robert Frazer
Rating: N/A (inherent spookiness; might be too scary for little kids)
Classic Movie Guide Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
DVD Release Date: 9/05/2006
Run Time: 69 minuyes
Studio: United Artists
Format: Full-screen
Photo credits: United Artists
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