Starring: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy
Director: Victor Halperin
Writers: Garnett Weston
Genre: Horror
Year: 1932
My rating:
WHITE ZOMBIE is credited as the first ever zombie movie, which makes it one of those films that inspired countless, paler imitations. I'd previously seen many of the lesser derivatives, but this was the first time for me to see the instigator. I hugely enjoyed it, which surprised me as I was watching, because I generally don't care much for zombies and this movie is generally weak in a lot of areas. But it has great atmosphere and the positives more than outweigh the negatives.
The characters are cleanly defined and don't vary at all from their introduction. We have the young couple. We have the young, selfish plantation owner. There's the friendly older doctor. The only character any way interesting is Bela Lugosi's witch doctor. And he absolutely steals the show.
The story is very simple. A man and his fiancé are due to be married in Haiti. While on the island and on their way to the church, a rich man invites them to stay at his mansion before the ceremony. Ostensively, the invitation is given because he claims to like the pair. But it turns out that his real motive is to steal the heart of the woman. But when she turns down his offers, he turns to a witch doctor to bend the laws of nature so that he can get some.
At this point, I offer a quiet word of advice to you, gentle reader. If the woman of your dreams rejects your advances and instead falls for another: move on. Get over it. It may take a few years, a few drinks and a few tears, but you'll be okay. It happens to all of us. Whatever you do, do not kill the woman and then try to make love to her reanimated corpse. It may have worked at your prom, but trust me, it won't work at anybody else's.
I've known a lot of zombies in films and TV shows over the years. These reanimated corpses have had a lot of work in the decades since their inception, but this is the first time I've ever actually found them creepy. Perhaps this is because they're less over-the-top here than they would become later. Since this is their first cinematic outing, maybe the filmmakers went gently with the concept to allow audiences to become familiar with the idea of the walking dead. In any case, they're very restrained here, which makes them extremely unsettling.
The film was made in 1932 and the production is relatively stagy and occasionally static. It's not a silent film, but it definitely looks like one. Indeed, it even sounds like one: the best moments come through great visuals rather than staggering dialog (and the scant dialog is weak at best). And there are some very effective scenes. Take the part where Bela Lugosi steals the woman's light scarf... and then later uses it in a voodoo spell. Or the genuinely spooky scenes of the zombies walking in long shot -- evil shadows slowly ambling across the darkened skyline. Or the zombie coach driver, adorned with a German Iron Cross (giving a fascinating hint at the previous life of this particular corpse).
Or take what is arguably the most unnerving scene in the film -- the sequence where the rich man visits the witch doctor and finds an entire factory (the actual purpose of which isn't explained) full of toiling zombies. I kept being reminded of the factory scenes in METROPOLIS only using zombies instead of proletariat. You really get the sense here that these are the living, walking dead instead of just underpaid extras with white makeup on. There are a number of great moments like this, virtually all atmospheric based on strong cinematography and solid acting (usually from Lugosi).
On the other hand, the audio is surprisingly good in a few places. Not necessarily with the dialog, but with the initial background music. There's a good deal of atmospheric chanting from the natives of the island of Haiti. I have no idea if this is authentic or merely some white person's idea of what such things should sound like, but in the context of the film it works extremely well. It's fantastic as far as establishing the setting and creating a mood.
The video picture and audio aren't great, but this is the Digiview Productions, one-dollar a pop version of the film, so I'm just happy I can see or hear anything. There no doubt exist more expensive versions of the film (and a quick search reveals several "restored" versions which I imagine are far superior in terms of image quality and sound), but this is a great way to see the film for the first time.
I don't usually like zombie movies, but I liked this one. So if you too dislike such films, you might want to give this one a try anyway. This is my favorite kind of horror film, where the menace comes more from mood and tone than from visible blood and gore. It's very good at what it sets out to do. I recommend this.
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