Hoping to capitalize on his success in the classic Dracula for Universal, Bela Lugosi stars in White Zombie which draws elements from a whole lot of horror features of the time including Lugosi's own Dracula and The Island Of Dr. Moreau. You will also find pieces of Frankenstein, The Mummy, Svengali, and The Most Dangerous Game here. I daresay if I looked at it again I might find other films that I could compare with.
The mix doesn't always work well, but the atmosphere created is great and there's nothing wrong with Bela Lugosi's performance of studied evil. Lugosi is the 'zombie master' and with a concoction of voodoo jungle juice and some hypnotic tricks he's created a race of soulless beings, not alive or dead. He's one practical dude that Bela, he hires his zombies out to the local planters in that area of Haiti. You got to admit this crew works real cheap, better than convict labor.
Young lovers John Herron and Madge Bellamy come to the island and their host, planter Robert Frazer decides he has to have Bellamy, devil take the consequences. But it's a devil's game he plays when he makes a deal with Lugosi who turn her into one of his creatures. And Bela's got plans all his own for Bellamy, the kind his Dracula had for Helen Chandler in that film.
Playing the Van Helsing role in White Zombie is Joseph Cawthorn who sounds awful Jewish to be a Christian minister. But he does know his way around the island and its voodoo customs.
In fact Lugosi and Cawthorn are the only two in the cast not guilty of overacting. The other players are all silent screen veterans who never quite got the technique of sound down. But the show really is all Lugosi's.
The mix doesn't always work well, but the atmosphere created is great and there's nothing wrong with Bela Lugosi's performance of studied evil. Lugosi is the 'zombie master' and with a concoction of voodoo jungle juice and some hypnotic tricks he's created a race of soulless beings, not alive or dead. He's one practical dude that Bela, he hires his zombies out to the local planters in that area of Haiti. You got to admit this crew works real cheap, better than convict labor.
Young lovers John Herron and Madge Bellamy come to the island and their host, planter Robert Frazer decides he has to have Bellamy, devil take the consequences. But it's a devil's game he plays when he makes a deal with Lugosi who turn her into one of his creatures. And Bela's got plans all his own for Bellamy, the kind his Dracula had for Helen Chandler in that film.
Playing the Van Helsing role in White Zombie is Joseph Cawthorn who sounds awful Jewish to be a Christian minister. But he does know his way around the island and its voodoo customs.
In fact Lugosi and Cawthorn are the only two in the cast not guilty of overacting. The other players are all silent screen veterans who never quite got the technique of sound down. But the show really is all Lugosi's.