The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

The Plague of the Zombies
Directed by John Gilling
Written by Peter Bryan
1966/UK
Hammer Films/Seven Arts Productions
First viewing/Amazon Instant
They Shoot Zombies, Don’t They?

[box] Sir James Forbes: I, I find all kinds of witchcraft slightly nauseating and this I find absolutely disgusting.[/box]

This solid Hammer horror entry kind of represents the missing link between the zombies in White Zombie (1932) and those in Night of the Living Dead (1968).

Villagers are dying in Cornwall of a mysterious ailment.  Sir James Forbes is called in to assist the young local medic to diagnose the problem.  Both are stymied by the refusal of the superstitious locals to allow autopsies.  When the two resort to grave robbing, they find empty coffins.  Could this have something to do with the voodoo cult operating in the area?

Movie is in color but I love this B&W still

This is one of the better Hammer horror films.  No Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing but otherwise exactly what one would expect from a Victorian-era zombie film from the studio.  The zombies are properly creepy and worth waiting for.