USA, 1932
64m, 66m, 69m, 74m
35mm, black and white
mono, English
Reviewed at The EOFFTV Review
An American horror film directed by Victor Halperin. It was the first feature length zombie film.
Plot Summary
A young couple, Madeleine and Neil, marry on a Haitian plantation, not realising that the plantation owner, Beaumont, wants Madeleine for himself. Beaumont calls in Murder Legendre who can turn people into zombies using a potion, then controls them puts them to work in his mill using his mind-control powers. Madeleine is turned into a zombie, but Legendre turns on Beaumont, zombifying him to, leaving a heartbroken Neil to seek out a local priest for help in getting Madeleine back.
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Victor Halperin
© Copyright MCMXXXII
A Halperin production
Produced by: Edward Halperin
Story and Dialogue by: Garnett Weston
Cinematographer: Arthur Martinelli
Editor: Harold McLernon
Title Theme: Guy Bevier Williams [credited as “Art and Technical”]
Sound Engineer: L.E. Clark [credited as “Art and Technical”]
Make Up: Jack Pierce, Carl Axcelle [credited as “Art and Technical”]
Special Effects: Harold Anderson [credited as “Art and Technical”]
Art Director: Ralph Berger [credited as “Art and Technical”]
Cast
Bela Lugosi (Murder Legendre)
Madge Bellamy (Madeleine Short Parker)
Joseph Cawthorn (Dr Bruner)
Robert Frazer (Charles Beaumont)
John Harron (Neil Parker)
Brandon Hurst (Silver)
George Burr Macannan (Von Gelder)
Frederick Peters (Chauvin)
Annette Stone (maid)
John Printz (Ledot)
Dan Crimmins (Pierre)
Claude Morgan, John Ferguson (zombies)
Links
See also
Revolt of the Zombies (1936)
Press
1998
Classic Images no.278 (August 1998) pp.39-40
Bela Lugosi fans will enjoy seeing him during a period from the height of his career – just a year after the Dracula role that gave him an immortal place in film history. Madge Bellamy is pleasing in her second talking role. – from a review by Robert Klepper
References
Periodicals
- Classic Images no.278 (August 1998) pp.39-40 – review by Robert Klepper
- Filmfax no.51 pp.28, 30 – review
- Journal of Human Relations vol.19 no.1 (1971) pp. 4–17 – article (‘Even a Man Who is Pure of Heart’: The Horror Film as an American Folk-Art by Robert Anton Wilson
- Monsterscene no.3 pp.11-14 – illustrated article
- Scarlet Street no. 19 p.32 – review
- Shivers no.26 p.45 – review
Books
- 100 American Horror Films by Barry Keith Grant pp.197-198
- The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen by Richard Crouse pp.243-245
- 500 Essential Cult Movies: The Ultimate Guide by Jennifer Eiss with J.P. Rutter and Steve White p.266 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
- After Dracula: The 1930s Horror Film by Alison Peirse pp.4, 7, 11-12, 24, 37, 55, 60-80
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.55 – credits, review
- Caligari’s Children: The Film as Tale of Terror by Siegbert Solomon Prawer pp.9, 36, 68, 175, 180, 201-2, 214, 252
- Censored Screams: The British Ban on Hollywood Horror in the Thirties by Tom Johnson pp.60, 61, 66, 132, 137; 189 – notes; credits
- Cult Horror: Dark Fantasy, Horror and Supernatural Movies by Russ Thorne p.82
- Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby p.91
- Fear Itself: Horror on Screen and in Reality During the Depression and World War II by Melvin E. Matthews Jr pp.60, 62-68, 183
- Fright Night on Channel 9 by James Arena pp.112-113
- Ghosts and Angels in Hollywood Films by James Robert Parish p.358 – credits
- Golden Horrors: An Illustrated Critical Filmography, 1931-1939 by Bryan Senn pp.81-91
- Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death by James Marriott & Kim Newman p.43
- Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.432-433
- Horror Films by Subgenre: A Viewer’s Guide by Chris Vander Kaay and Kathleen Fernandez-Vander Kaay pp.209-210
- Horrorshows: The A-Z of Horror in Film, TV, Radio and Theatre by Gene Wright p.236-238 – illustrated credits, review
- Recovering 1940s Horror Cinema: Traces of a Lost Decade by Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare, Charlie Ellbé and Kristopher Woofter (eds.) pp.xii, 226-233, 236, 342
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.539 – credits
- Sound Films, 1927-1939: A United States Filmography by Alan G. Fetrow p.747
- Terror Tracks: Music, Sound and Horror Cinema by Philip Hayward (ed) p.193
- Thrills Untapped: Neglected Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films 1928-1936
- Top 100 Horror Movies by Gary Gerani pp.116-117 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
- The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia by Peter Dendle p.190-191
