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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bela Lugosi in the world's very first ZOMBIE flick, 23 Jun 2004
In many ways this first zombie movie is the last film in the baroque horror tradition of the silent films. This 1932 film directed by Victor Halperin was made for practically nothing even though it starred Bela Lugosi as "Murder" Legendre, in his first role after making a smash in "Dracula." Lugosi, who apparently directed some of the retakes as well, plays the master of a different type of undead down in Haiti. In "White Zombie," Monsieur Beaumont (Robert Frazer) convinces a young couple, Madeleine Short (Madge Bellamy) and Neil Parker (John Harron) to get married on his Haitian plantation. Amazingly enough, he does this so that he can convince Madeline to run away with him. Needing help, Beaumont turns to Legendre, who runs his mill with zombie workers. Beaumont uses Legendre's zombie potion to bend Madeleine to his will, but then is dissatisfied with her soulless husk and wants her turned back. Instead, Legendre turns Beaumont into a zombie as well. Meanwhile, Neil is convinced by a local priest that maybe he is not a widow after all. "White Zombie" never really frightens its audience, but instead sustains a high level of downright eeriness throughout, achieving its effect by taking such simple objects as the scarf used to wrap a voodoo doll or a rose containing poison and making them important elements in Lugosi's evil machinations. This film might be a talkie, but its sensibilities are those of the silent era and since it begins the tradition of zombies in the movies that continues down to "Night of the Living Dead" and other light hearted fare makes it at least an interesting footnote in the history of horror films.
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