[HorrorScience] White Zombie (1932)

A few weeks ago I commented on the 1931 version of drtobutt, a very important film for commercial horror cinema, for Universal and for its main actor, Bela “Drácula” Lugosi.

Today I am going to comment on another film by the same actor, released a year later by an independent production company and with a more modest budget, but which has the merit of being considered the first zombie movieI'm talking about white zombie, known in Spain as The legion of soulless men.

The film begins by showing us the couple made up of Madeleine (Madge Bellamy) and Neil (John Harron), who are traveling through Haiti. While they are riding a horse cart through a mountain area, they find that the locals have buried a deceased person in the middle of the road, and apparently the choice of that place to hold the funeral is for keep away body snatchers, since it is an area of ​​continuous passage of people.

During the rest of the journey, the coachman stops to ask a strange man with a terrifying look (Bela Lugosi) for directions, and immediately sinister men begin to appear walking on the mountain, which causes the coachman to get scared and make the horses run at full speed.

Upon reaching their destination, the couple scolds the coachman for his dangerous driving, and he tells them that Those strange mountain men were actually lifeless bodies., or what is the same, zombies.

A little later we will learn the reason for the young couple's trip. Apparently an acquaintance of the girl, Charles Beaumont, has invited them to his mansion in Haiti to celebrate their wedding there, something that the other guest at the event, Dr. Bruner, misses.

Shortly after introducing himself, Mr. Beaumont leaves the house to see Legendre, the strange guy the couple saw on the road, who seems to be able to control the dead and force them to do whatever he wants thanks to Voodoo. The reason for the meeting is that Beaumont is in love with Madeleine, and seeks Legendre's help to make her fall in love with him. The solution that the sinister man proposes is to turn her into one of his zombies, so that she can obey him in everything he wants. Beaumont does not want to do it, but finally accepts a substance that Legendre gives her, which will leave the girl without any willpower.

After trying to seduce Madeleine without success, Beamount uses the special substance, which will cause the girl to start acting strangely until she dies in the arms of her new husband. After the burial, Beamount, Legendre, and their group of zombie helpers (made up of the sorcerer's former enemies, now under his command) carry away the coffin, shortly before Neil discovers that his body has been stolen.

After telling Dr. Bruner about the event, he tells him that Madeleine's body has possibly been stolen to perform rituals with her bones or that perhaps she I wasn't really dead, and was in a state of mental death caused by voodoo, just like the men they saw before. Despite Neil's skepticism to believe such stories, it may be the only way to find Madeleine, so he and Dr. Bruner quickly begin an investigation, with Beamount as the main suspect.

White Zombie is a film that did not receive very good reviews, but I find it quite interesting, in addition to making the zombie phenomenon fashionable for the first time (which was followed by films like I walked with a zombie (1943) either King of the Zombies (1941) among others.

It must be taken into account that this film is not a Universal blockbuster, but rather an independent film, which somehow managed to hire one of the star actors of the moment (Bela Lugosi) and still had the budget to make a film with varied sets and a very sinister atmosphere, especially in some moments, such as when the zombies are shown working in the Legendre refinery.

On the other hand, I really like Legendre's character, he is evil, but calm and intelligent, which makes him seem even more evil, There is nothing that seems to escape your control and all this without resorting to violence. Lugosi still had some traces of his recent interpretation of Dracula, a film from which the image of Lugosi's eyes is also taken and expanded as a threatening look in the foreground, a hallmark of the Hungarian that was repeated in later films, with more or less luck.

In summary, White Zombiee is a classic horror film that I find very complete and recommendable, the story may have its flaws or some actors may not be up to par, but taking into account that it is an independent production and that it lasts just over an hour, I think the final result is highly recommended.

Curiosities:

• White Zombiee is the first zombie movie, although it is true that these zombies are controlled by black magic and do not have much to do with the human devourers that we have seen in multiple films since Romero filmed night of the living dead (1968).
• The film is based on a poorly successful play called Zombie.
• In this film, scenery from Dracula (1931), El jorobado de Notre Drame (1923), Frankenstein (1931) y algunas películas más.
• En la película Ed Wood de Tim Burton, Bela Lugosi (interpretado por Martin Landau) y Ed Wood (interpretado por Johnny Depp) salen viendo esta película en televisión.