If you've seen a lot of Bela Lugosi's films, you might be tempted to think that apart from the horror movies he made for Universal Studios the rest of his films were crap. This wouldn't be fair but it also could easily be understood due to the huge volume of rotten films he made during his career (such as his movies for Ed Wood). However, dismissing him too quickly is a mistake, as this little film from United Artists is amazingly scary and exciting to watch more than 70 years later due to excellent writing, special effects and acting.
The film is a super-moody thriller about zombies in Haiti. However, unlike Val Lewton's super famous I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, this film is much, much scarier and has a much creepier look about it. In particular, I loved the matte painting used for the castle on the cliff--it was highly reminiscent of some of the matte work done for KING KONG the following year. I also liked the look they gave Lugosi--looking more like the Devil than Dracula!! This, combined with his excellent delivery, made this one of his best performances.
The film is about an evil man that is secretly in love with a woman he met on a cruise. This woman is about to be married and the evil guy asks her and her fiancé to come to his mansion to be married. In the meantime, he meets with Lugosi who informs him that they can fake her death and make her his zombie lover! Then we see the products of Lugosi's mad secret--an army of zombie workers that are used as cheap labor on the sugar cane plantation! They work incessantly and decline to become unionized--a dream come true for an evil capitalist! Once they use the magic formula and do some mumbo-jumbo, the new husband thinks his bride is dead and he spends much of the rest of the film drinking and brooding. The evil guy, though, isn't much happier with her as life with a zombie bride turns out to be pretty lame after all (what a surprise)! But, by now the deed has been done and Lugosi threatens the evil guy when he talks of wanting to restore the lady to her original condition. This is when the film really heats up and leads to a wonderful and super-creepy conclusion! I don't want to ruin it, but this film really delivers and deserves to be recognized as an exceptional film.
The film is a super-moody thriller about zombies in Haiti. However, unlike Val Lewton's super famous I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, this film is much, much scarier and has a much creepier look about it. In particular, I loved the matte painting used for the castle on the cliff--it was highly reminiscent of some of the matte work done for KING KONG the following year. I also liked the look they gave Lugosi--looking more like the Devil than Dracula!! This, combined with his excellent delivery, made this one of his best performances.
The film is about an evil man that is secretly in love with a woman he met on a cruise. This woman is about to be married and the evil guy asks her and her fiancé to come to his mansion to be married. In the meantime, he meets with Lugosi who informs him that they can fake her death and make her his zombie lover! Then we see the products of Lugosi's mad secret--an army of zombie workers that are used as cheap labor on the sugar cane plantation! They work incessantly and decline to become unionized--a dream come true for an evil capitalist! Once they use the magic formula and do some mumbo-jumbo, the new husband thinks his bride is dead and he spends much of the rest of the film drinking and brooding. The evil guy, though, isn't much happier with her as life with a zombie bride turns out to be pretty lame after all (what a surprise)! But, by now the deed has been done and Lugosi threatens the evil guy when he talks of wanting to restore the lady to her original condition. This is when the film really heats up and leads to a wonderful and super-creepy conclusion! I don't want to ruin it, but this film really delivers and deserves to be recognized as an exceptional film.