Movie Review: White Zombie (1932)
White Zombie (1932) is credited as the first ever zombie movie, which makes it one of those films that inspired countless, paler imitations. I’d previously seen many of the lesser derivatives, but this was the first time for me to see the instigator. I hugely enjoyed it, which surprised me as I was watching, because I generally don’t care much for zombies and this movie is generally weak in a lot of areas. But it has great atmosphere and the positives more than outweigh the negatives.
The characters are cleanly defined and don’t vary at all from their introduction. We have the young couple. We have the young, selfish plantation owner. There’s the friendly older doctor. The only character that is in any way interesting is Bela Lugosi’s witch doctor. And he absolutely steals the show.
The story is very simple. A man and his fiancé are due to be married in Haiti. While on the island and on their way to the church, a rich man invites them to stay at his mansion before the ceremony. Ostensibly, the invitation is given because he claims to like the pair. But it turns out that his real motive is to steal the heart of the woman. But when she turns down his offers, he turns to a witch doctor to bend the laws of nature so that he can get some.
At this point, I offer a quiet word of advice to you, gentle reader. If the woman of your dreams…
