Monday, April 13, 2009

A Frank Review of "White Zombie" (1932)



The Short Version? Newlywed bride becomes zombie love slave.
What Is It? Horror.
Who's In It? Bela Lugosi.
Should I See It? No.

What we have here is an historic document: the first ever zombie movie, appearing a year after Lugosi's star turn as Dracula. The sets are grand, especially for an independent production. There's some potent use of superimposed images, the make-up effects are excellent, and the acting is solid. The music and lighting are well above par for the time.

All those accolades aside, watching the movie makes for a damned long hour and change. Unless Lugosi or a zombie is on screen, there is nothing particularly interesting to look at. The film is shot dark and dull, with perfunctory dialogue and a great deal of padding. Scenes start out creepy, then run so long that you become accustomed to the images, like staring at a Halloween mask until all you see is the rubber and glue. Lugosi's wry manner is droll, but also negates any tension generated from his diabolical appearance. A vulture emits a loud "scream" that begins to grate on the nerves by the third attempt at a jump scare. A slew of silly wipes reminds why the technique was relegated to home movies.

There are plenty of nice touches, though. I especially like the moment where Beaumont clutches the villain's hand like an elderly woman desperate to communicate with a dismissive grandchild. Still, you could edit the most worthy elements of the film to a 5-10 minute YouTube presentation and do the public a great service.

If you're interested, you can watch the entire feature below...

4 comments:

wiec? said...

a saw White Zombie ages ago. and i thought it was sort of boring. then i went to a Halloween party and it was on the TVs with no sound (music was playing) and every time i looked up something interesting seemed to happening.

thanks for providing the you tube link. i'll try and check it out soon.

saving the Across the Universe review until after i see it. My girl is a huge Beatles fan and i'm sure i'm seeing it soon.

Diabolu Frank said...

I'm very sorry for the upcoming loss of over two hours out of your life-- though if you disagree, I hope to hear about it.

wiec? said...

no you were right. i could only stay with it for about 15 minutes. god i hate how short my attention span (and theshold for crap) is shrinking.

Diabolu Frank said...

Wait-- Across the Universe or White Zombie?

...nurghophiles...

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