Les morts-vivants

Sometimes silly, sometimes stilted, nearly always stagey, White Zombie remains nonetheless one of the most visually fascinating films in horror history. Who can forget the image of Madge Bellamy's alabaster gown flowing down the concrete staircase, or the zombie burial procession outlined spectrally against the sky, or the sinister shadows cast demonically across a dance floor. Then there's the magnificently Gothic hall with its grotesquely twisted bannister like none other I've seen. In fact, almost every scene presents at least one arresting visual feature. As good as these and the many other touches are, it's still the mill scene that remains a masterpiece of visual staging. It must be seen to be appreciated-- the pitiless grind of the crusher, the soundless shuffle circling into the maw-- all in all, one of the deeper levels of Dante's inferno and one that's bound to stay with you.

If the visuals are inspired, the acting is not. It's almost as if two different people are in charge. Bellamy is quite good with her large liquid eyes and bee-stung lips. Her transformation into a zombie stupor is well performed. Of course, there's also Lugosi as Lugosi, florid, hammy, but effective nonetheless. The other principals, however, bring down the proceedings with what can only be described as bad acting. Bellamy's swain in particular is plain annoying, while the preacher appears to have wandered in from a breezy Bing Crosby production. Too bad. With more appropriate performances this could have been an all-time classic.

As things stand, it's a truly memorable film, whose influence can be seen in such diverse venues as Val Lewton's horror cycle, Bergman's The Seventh Seal, and Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Except for the mill scene with its eerily grinding tonality, the movie might be best enjoyed by turning off the sound altogether. (P. S. Colorizing this b&w marvel is nothing less than a crime.)

White zombie is recorded as being the first Zombie movie ever mad. They Zombie actors did an amazing job of it, especially when considering they had no bases to work from. It was all about portraying creepy and terrifying through a stiff body poster and facial features. And they pooled it off. It was the "eyes" of Lugosi, the king of Zombies who put the fear in me. Amazing skills as an actor to convey so much with just the eyes. The movie is at one scary, mysterious, weird, and funny. The key feature of White zombie is that it was made to scar the people of its time, not ours. And this is probably why most people won't give it the time of day. It is an old movie with old style acting and scare tactics. The viewer has to know that be for watching it.

You have to change your way of looking at movies to really enjoy old horror movies like this one. Don't be in a rush to see action, violence and don't expect to see any bloodshed at all. Most of the grisly part is implied and you have to fill in the details. Instead, watch it for the scenery, the acting and the plot.

I prefer the older horror films to the newer, slash-fest movies because they allow me to think and they generally have a good, moral theme. You never have a good guy as a demon or a fiend, for instance.

White Zombie has the older, traditional zombie characters that are not evil in themselves. Instead, they are mindless and controlled by a shaman, who is generally evil and must be destroyed to set the zombies, who are victims, free. In the newer Zombie movies like Night of the Living Dead, the Zombies are either not controlled or are evil themselves and must be destroyed.

I think the acting by the zombies is very good and so is their make-up (i.e. they have very frightening faces.) Their master, played by Bela Lugosi, is also played masterfully. The missionary is also good, but most of the rest of the cast is only average.

It's a fun movie to watch and I gave it a score of 7 out of 10. If you love early horror movies, buy it. Don't pay more than $10 unless it's packaged with other movies because the picture and the sound quality are weak. If not, you might catch it on a Friday night horror fest on TV. It's worth the time watching it if for Bela Lugosi alone.

I'm a big Bela Lugosi fan, as well as a sucker for '30s and '40s horror chestnuts in general. But no matter how many times I watch WHITE ZOMBIE, I'm just always a bit short of considering it a "good" movie. Lugosi is delightfully weird and mysterious as Murder Legendre, a sinister zombie master who commands a legion of Walking Dead, and who grants a favor to a jealous man by helping him possess the woman he yearns for -- by turning her into a mindless zombie!

The surroundings are purely macabre and unsettling. But despite these assets, something goes astray in the snail-like pacing. Some of the acting is hopelessly dated and exaggerated, most notably by con man Robert Frazer and, to a lesser extent, hero John Harron. It's interesting that Lugosi - who's often lambasted by critics for overdoing it himself - is perfectly "on," however.

WHITE ZOMBIE is still a "pretty good" horror movie in its own right for such a minor production. But it's not a film I would recommend to those younger viewers who tend to feel bored by older classic films.

There's something about 1930s horror movies that makes them really special and haunting. It's probably got a lot to do with the talkies being new and directors being free to experiment with tricks learned from German expressionism. Whatever the explanation the best movies from the early 30s (James Whale's 'Frankenstein', 'Bride Of Frankenstein' and 'The Invisible Man', Todd Browning's 'Dracula' and 'Freaks') have a dreamlike quality that sticks in your brain and just won't leave. Bela Lugosi is one of the icons of horror movies. He made 'White Zombie' not long after 'Dracula', his definitive role, and gives another great performance. 'Island Of Lost Souls' is a better movie than 'White Zombie' but Lugosi on has a small role in that so I'd say this is his best movie after 'Dracula'. It's easy to forget just how quickly his career died. His two mid-30s teamings with Boris Karloff ('The Black Cat' and 'The Raven') were basically the beginning of the end for him as a major star, and by the time he played Ygor in the underrated 'Son Of Frankenstein' at the end of the decade he was almost a has been. Oh well Lugosi is just terrific in this movie as the sinister 'Murder' Legrende, Haitian mill owner and zombie master. Robert Fraser plays Charles Beaumont, a local plantation owner who becomes obsessed with a young woman (Madge Bellamy) about to be married. He invites her and her fiance (John Harron) to his estate to have their wedding all the while planning some way to win her. An hour before the wedding he becomes desperate and reluctantly approaches his sinister neighbour Legrende. Legrende's solution has dire consequences for all involved. The movie was obviously made a shoe string budget but there are plenty of striking visual images, especially those involving Bellamy after Lugosi gets to her. The zombies are very creepy and are the precursors to zombie classics later made by Tourneur, Romero, Fulci and Raimi. For this and for Lugosi 'White Zombie' is a must see for any horror buff!