A wealthy plantation owner turns to voodoo master, Murder Legendre (Bela Lugosi) to use his magic to lure away another man's fiancee. While the spell works, the plantation owner finds that he doesn't like having the woman as an unemotive, unresponsive zombie and asks Legendre to return her to the way he was only to find that Legendre has plans of his own.
White Zombie (1932) is a cheap, poverty row film that looks far better than it's low budget would allow by reusing existing sets on the Universal lot as well as some stylish camera work and direction. The haunting beauty carries this film that relies on strong images rather than dialogue to carry the story. Lugosi turns in a sinister performance as Legendre, demonstrating some of the fine acting he carries out through his hand gestures. The zombies add an eerie presence to the already dreamlike quality of the film.
No comments:
Post a Comment