White Zombie is regarded
as the first zombie film.
White Zombie does not depict
zombies as we have come to
know them, but rather as mindless undead slaves doing their master's
bidding. This is classic Lugosi and helped set the tone for the future
of horror.
Review by: The Zombie Master Lee
Roberts November 5, 2006
Release:
1932 Directed by: Victor Halperin Written
by: Garnett Weston
Starring: Bela Lugosi as
‘Murder’ Legendre Madge Bellamy
as Madeleine Robert Frazer as Charles
Beaumont John Harron as Neil Parker
The dictionary defines
“fan” as “a person
enthusiastic about a specified _______”. You can fill in the
blank. By this definition, I am a fan of Bela Lugosi. He more than
deserves his placement along side the greats of horror. He helped set
the atmosphere for the modern horror film when the genre was in its
infancy.
White Zombie is one of the films that Lugosi used to
set that
tone. The story begins in Haiti with a couple traveling by carriage
when they are stopped by a funeral taking place in the middle of the
road.
The driver’s explanation is that
they do not want the body stolen
so they are burying the body where regular traffic will keep someone
from trying. Also on the journey they cross paths with an eerie
gentleman and his henchmen.
Upon
arrival at their destination, Neil Parker (John Harron) and his
fiancé Madeleine (Madge Bellamy) asks the driver about the
strange henchmen and is told that they were not men but were zombies.
The living dead that are made to work in the fields and factories.
Neil and Madeleine are at the home of Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer)
to be wed. The problem is that Mr. Beaumont has fallen for Madeleine
and would do anything to win her from Neil. The key word is
“anything”. He makes a deal with
‘Murder’
Legendre (Bela Lugosi) to take care of the situation. What Mr. Beaumont
doesn’t understand is that he has figuratively made
a deal with the devil.
White
Zombie by itself is a good movie. But historically it
deserves a higher status. White Zombie is arguably
the first zombie movie. Not the zombie that we know today but the
voodoo zombie of legend. White Zombie started a
genre of horror that I am proud to say that I am a fan of.
White Zombie is also a classic Bela Lugosi film. It
allows
Lugosi to show his genius in his knowledge of how body language and
facial expressions can help set the mood of a scene almost as much as
the sound track does.
I am a firm believer that a true horror fan will not only have a
passion for the genre but will also have an inner yearning to learn as
much as you can about the genre’s, or even
sub-genre’s,
humble beginnings.
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Upon
arrival at their destination, Neil Parker (John Harron) and his
fiancé Madeleine (Madge Bellamy) asks the driver about the
strange henchmen and is told that they were not men but were zombies.
The living dead that are made to work in the fields and factories.
White
Zombie by itself is a good movie. But historically it
deserves a higher status. White Zombie is arguably
the first zombie movie. Not the zombie that we know today but the
voodoo zombie of legend. White Zombie started a
genre of horror that I am proud to say that I am a fan of.
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