White Zombie

White Zombie was a huge disappointment to me. I read all the praise heaped upon it, about it being a classic and a "must-own for horror and zombie fans", one of the best zombie films ever, and so on. I thought I was sitting down to watch a masterpiece, but in the end I just felt like I had watched a piece of something I won't mention.

I'll list the few strong points I took away with me first, as the film does deserve some credit. The subject matter is great, dealing with the root of the zombie myth (although, I don't think flesh-eating zombies was even a concept at that point). Lugosi certainly looked cool as Murder Legendre (although the moniker is almost as lame as naming your villain "Mr. Big"). Finally, there were some cool scenes, such as the distant shots of the zombies on the hill and the pillory scene, but that was about it for me.

Overall, I found it to be a borefest. Lugosi was overly hammy, and the other actors were just pathetic. One reviewer noted that Madge Bellamy showed more spirit, emotion, and facial expressions after being zombified, and I'd have to agree. If the acting was any more wooden, you would've thought it was a commercial for Paneling World. I get the impression that the Halperin brothers were trying to capitalize on the Universal horror craze at the time, and came up with the zombie concept merely as filler for their stupid love/obsession story. The few good scenes that had any atmosphere seemed almost accidental, much of which has been credited to no budget and a rushed shoot (two weeks). The film just isn't entertaining.

It seems that the Halperins "borrowed" quite a few plot elements from a play written by one Kenneth Webb, titled Zombie, that had a brief run on Broadway in 1932. Webb sued them for copyright infringement and lost the case. Also of note is the fact that Lugosi's co-star, Clarence Muse, revealed that Lugosi actually rewrote, restaged, and even directed many scenes. This point alone may be why there are a few visually striking and eerie scenes. If you look at Halperin's sequel to this film, the dreadful Revolt of the Zombies, I think you'll see what impact Lugosi's talent had on the original. The sequel is one of the worst films in history, on par with Manos: The Hands of Fate and Hudson Hawk. Beyond this, both Victor and Edward Halperin were involved in only nine more productions after White Zombie, lending credence to the notion they were hacks. Lucio Fulci gets ripped as a hack, yet his Zombi 2 is one of the greatest zombie films ever, while White Zombie gets undue praise as all all-time classic. Go figure.

I don't see all the fuss about this one. It gets far too much credit, as it's hardly a classic or required viewing in my book. If it was, it would be revered in the same light that the three Universal films are. A superior film using the voodoo zombie concept is Hammer's Plague of the Zombies, which manages to be moody, eerie, and entertaining at the same time (and the antagonist isn't named Zombiemaker Killerface ). White Zombie was a one-and-done viewing for me. It went to the Blockbuster trade-in bin very quickly.

i always think Bela is worth watching, even in MY SON THE VAMPIRE and stuff like that.

i didn't know all that about WHITE ZOMBIE, so thanks for the info. i prefer these real zombie movies over the flesh eating ghoul-zombies that have permeated the movies since the vastly overrated NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD movies though.

I liked White Zombie. Unlike that Phantom Ship which I also picked up for $1. I think I'm done with Lugosi for a while. I have more Vincent Price films to watch.

well stated.