This film was introduced to me as being low-budget, and while it made sense upon watching it, the White Zombie certainly exceeded my expectations. To begin with, the light/"color" effects were aesthetically pleasing. I say "color" because of how hard they drove it home that Madge Bellamy's Madeline would indeed be the "white zombie" the title referred to. This could be considered a cheesy or ham-fisted entity, but Bellamy was truly an entity with power on screen, though only in appearance.
The acting itself (and often the writing) is actually quite bad pretty consistently. That can have its merits though, especially in this genre. For instance, much of that acting contributes well to the horror/zombie aspect of the film; what would be considered a "classic" element of it today. Bela Lugosi takes it over the top, with his signature presence. While I have trouble getting genuinely invested in films of this nature, Lugosi is truly some sort of force of amusement. The cast is thoroughly entertaining, if nothing else.
On top of being a good "classic" horror/zombie movie, White Zombie had several independent merits, both creative and social. For instance, one scene when Neil (played by John Harron) is having something of an emotional breakdown after losing Madeline, and the use of shadows on the wall and noise itself are excellent. It's a visually engaging scene, and one that stuck with me, though White Zombie uses light and shadow extremely well throughout. Sound is a great tool in the film as well, such as the too-quiet scene in the sugar mill when Charles Beaumont, something of an antagonist, pays a visit to Lugosi's Murder Legendre. The grinding noise is striking, and builds to the tone of at least Lugosi's sinister character quite well.
Socially, White Zombie implies a lot about the colonialism that affected at the time through its treatment of setting, lore, and the actual people by Beaumont at his manor/plantation. This, however, has far more relevance than being simply a setting today than it would have when it was released, as nothing is explicitly said about these things in the film. But with a modern view, there's certainly something to be seen there.
All in all, White Zombie is simply enjoyable and at several points, artful. This is more than can be said for what we would generally think of as a "low-budget" horror movie.
The acting itself (and often the writing) is actually quite bad pretty consistently. That can have its merits though, especially in this genre. For instance, much of that acting contributes well to the horror/zombie aspect of the film; what would be considered a "classic" element of it today. Bela Lugosi takes it over the top, with his signature presence. While I have trouble getting genuinely invested in films of this nature, Lugosi is truly some sort of force of amusement. The cast is thoroughly entertaining, if nothing else.
On top of being a good "classic" horror/zombie movie, White Zombie had several independent merits, both creative and social. For instance, one scene when Neil (played by John Harron) is having something of an emotional breakdown after losing Madeline, and the use of shadows on the wall and noise itself are excellent. It's a visually engaging scene, and one that stuck with me, though White Zombie uses light and shadow extremely well throughout. Sound is a great tool in the film as well, such as the too-quiet scene in the sugar mill when Charles Beaumont, something of an antagonist, pays a visit to Lugosi's Murder Legendre. The grinding noise is striking, and builds to the tone of at least Lugosi's sinister character quite well.
Socially, White Zombie implies a lot about the colonialism that affected at the time through its treatment of setting, lore, and the actual people by Beaumont at his manor/plantation. This, however, has far more relevance than being simply a setting today than it would have when it was released, as nothing is explicitly said about these things in the film. But with a modern view, there's certainly something to be seen there.
All in all, White Zombie is simply enjoyable and at several points, artful. This is more than can be said for what we would generally think of as a "low-budget" horror movie.