White Zombie
Directed by Victor Halperin
Written by Garnett Weston from a novel by William B. Seabrook
1932/US
Victor & Edward Halperin Productions
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Charles Beaumont: Zombies!
Legendre: Yes, they are my servants. Did you think we could do it alone?
This is an effective low budget independent film noted for being the first zombie movie, though these zombies do not feed on human flesh but are more or less slaves.
On an ocean voyage plantation owner Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer) falls for a woman (Madge Bellamy) who is sailing to Haiti to be married. Once they return to the island and she meets her intended, Beaumont enlists the help of evil sugar mill owner Legendre (Bela Lugosi) to make her his own. Legendre does this by using a hypnotic drug and making her a zombie like all the workers at his mill. Is there any going back? And what sinister plans does Bela have for her?
This is pretty darn creepy without a drop of blood to be seen. Lugosi’s performance is very like that in Dracula (1931), with the hypnotic stare and slow emphatic delivery. The zombies look pretty much like the zombies in more modern fare. The print I watched on Amazon is the best I have seen and gave me more appreciation for the film.
