A withering indictment of the gig economy and zero hour contracts in the Haitian workforce circa 1932, White Zombie is a horror movie with a sociological point. This is not White Zombie the band, but the 1932 film, coming in at a hefty 25 quid on blu-ray, but a reasonable £2.50 on Amazon Prime. Victor Halperin’s horror feature is a fairly primitive affair, even for 1932, but it’s got a certain something about it that has reserved a special place in cinematic depictions of hell on earth. So just to be clear; this doesn’t match up to modern cinematic standards, unless you enjoy stilted dialogue, over-ripe performances and unknown actors speaking extremely slowly. But if you’re prepared to overlook the faults, there’s something bubbling up rather nicely here.
These aren’t just any zombies, they’re cheap labour organised by Murder Lengendre, whose name sounds like he might be a rapper but is in fact performed by Bela Lugosi in a performance so ripe that even he must have wondered if he should tone it down a notch. Murder controls the zombie workforce by holding his hands together in the zombie grip; in this method, he runs his Haitian sugar cane plantation without any interference from health and safety jobsworths. Along come couple Madeleine and Neil (Madge Bellamy and John Harron), looking to get married, but the local boss Charles Beaumont (Ronald W Frazer) has designs on Madeleine and wants her for himself. So Beaumont consults with Murder, and decides that he’ll turn Madeleine into a zombie and get control of her in this unconventional method.
This is, in itself, a neat story idea; Murder uses his supernatural power for an economic gain, but wires are crossed when the same techniques are used for personal or sexual motives. You can insert your own capitalism metaphor here, but there’s a reason by Tobe Hooper wanted to remake this film, and it’s because there’s a genuine potency in the idea. It’s true that things get a bit bogged down here before a cliff-top climax where the characters fling themselves onto the rocks with gleeful abandon as the co-incidences and contrivances pile up. And while White Zombie is inferior to seminal works by Val Lewton or Carl Dreyer, it successfully evokes a similar primitive, haunting feel; the sound of the drums and the images of tortured souls have gained resonance over the years.
Even the most subtle of Lugosi’s acting techniques can still be seen from space, and yet his big performance is the heart of the film. Halperin even experiments with a couple of camera moves and some strange visual juxtapositions; there’s a brilliant use of silhouettes in a key dramatic scene. So while White Zombie works as a horror comedy, since there’s many unintentional laughs, it’s also something of a key text for horror fans, one that uncovers ideas about male control/economic mastery that still resonate today.
There’s some haunting moments that a very creative for 1932. And the atmosphere is eerie, creepy, dreamlike.
I love the aesthetic look of this film, while being pretty much anywhere from indifferent to annoyed by the actual content. Plods along ham fisted and brick dense, but visually fantastic to look at in places.
What did writer W. Seabrook think about the movie, an adaptation of his book Magic Island? Though he wasn’t lst to use word zombie, he’s credited as such. I love the histrionics of some of the early (pre-code) movies. How apt to watch a zombie movie while we wait and watch as tenuous lines are drawn and crossed, and we wonder if Gov’t’s still have one good brain among them…
Yes, I wondered about the book that this was based on, will do some research. What’s particularly notable is the depiction of class division here, created via supernatural skulduggery, and the use of that power to created elevated social position and controlled sexual abuse. I suspect the book will have a more sophisticated take, but for sure, it’s right there in the movie, even if there’s a layer of melodrama on top. Thanks for the comment as always!
Oh, wow, Seabrook is quite a character, I had assumed that The Magic Island was fiction, but it’s apparently his own travel writing about a zombie encounter! Seems to have made him a few quid, which he invested heavily in ruining himself, as one does.
Some terrible Plan 9-level moments, but overall a pretty good film. The scene at the end where Lugosi whittles away while Beaumont is dying/turning into a zombie is quite effectively creepy.
Absolutely, there are some great moments here, but you do have to overlook the flaws!