White Zombie (film)
White Zombie | |
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Directed by | Victor Halperin |
Written by | Garnett Weston |
Based on | The Magic Island 1929 novel by William Seabrook[1] |
Produced by | Edward Halperin |
Starring | Bela Lugosi[2] |
Cinematography | Arthur Martinelli |
Edited by | Harold McLernon |
Music by |
|
Production company | Halperin Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 67 minutes;[5] or 68 or 70 minutes[4] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $50,000 (approx.)[4] |
White Zombie is a 1932
Large portions of White Zombie were shot on the
White Zombie is considered the first feature length zombie film; a loose sequel, Revolt of the Zombies, opened in 1936. Modern reception to White Zombie has been more positive. Some critics have praised the film's atmosphere and compared it to the 1940s horror films of Val Lewton, while others still have unfavorable opinions on the quality of the acting.
Plot
On arrival in
At the castle, Charles has begun to regret Madeleine's transformation and begs Murder to return her to life, but Murder refuses. Charles discovers he has been tainted by Murder's voodoo and is also transforming into a zombie. As Neil enters the fortress, Murder senses his presence and silently orders Madeleine to kill Neil. She approaches Neil with a knife, but Bruner grabs her hand from behind a curtain, making her drop the knife and walk away. Neil follows Madeleine to an escarpment, where Murder commands his zombie guardians to kill Neil. Bruner approaches Murder and knocks him out, breaking Murder's mental control over his zombies. Undirected, the zombies topple off the cliff. Murder awakens and eludes Neil and Bruner, but Charles pushes Murder off the cliff. Charles loses his balance and also falls to his death. Murder's death releases Madeleine from her zombie trance, and she awakens to embrace Neil.
Cast
- Bela Lugosi as "Murder" Legendre, a white Haitian voodoo master who commands a crew of zombies
- Madge Bellamy as Madeleine Short, Neil Parker's fiancée, who is turned into a zombie by Legendre
- Joseph Cawthorn as Dr. Bruner: a missionary preacher
- Robert W. Frazeras Charles Beaumont, a plantation owner who is in love with Madeleine
- John Harron as Neil Parker, a bank employee, the fiancé of Madeleine
- Brandon Hurst as Silver, Beaumont's butler
- George Burr Macannan as Von Gelder, a formerly rich man who has fallen under Legendre's spell to become a zombie
- Clarence Muse as a coach driver
- Frederick Peters as Chauvin, a zombie, the former high executioner
- Annette Stone as a maid
- John Printz as Ledot, a zombie, a former witch doctor who was once Legendre's master
- Dan Crimmins as Pierre, an old witch doctor
- Claude Morgan as Garcia, a zombie who used to be a thief
- John Fergusson as Marquee, a zombie who was the chief of the police
- Velma Gresham as the tall maid
Production
The zombie theme of White Zombie was inspired by – but the screenplay not based on – the Broadway play by Kenneth Webb titled Zombie.
White Zombie was filmed in eleven days in March 1932 and was shot at the
By the time Bela Lugosi appeared in White Zombie, he was already popular with contemporary audiences after his starring role in the hit 1931 film Dracula and 1932's Murders in the Rue Morgue, and film historians have found it surprising that he would sign on to a low-budget film by producers (the Halperin brothers) with no track record in Hollywood.[1] Sources vary about Lugosi's salary for his week of work on White Zombie. Claims range between US$500 to $900. Richard Sheffield, who was his close friend in the 1950s, reported a payment of $5,000 for White Zombie on Lugosi's tax returns.[17][18]
The cast and crew's reaction to Lugosi on the set was mixed. Madge Bellamy recalled her collaboration with Lugosi positively, stating that he was very pleasant and that he used to kiss her hand in the morning when they would come on to the set.[19] In contrast, assistant cameraman Enzo Martinelli remarked that "Lugosi wasn't really a friendly type" on set.[19] Actor Clarence Muse, who played the coach driver, claimed that some scenes were partly re-written or re-staged by Lugosi, who also helped to direct some re-takes.[4][1]
Lugosi's model for his portrayal of "Murder" Legendre in White Zombie may have been the character he played in 1919's Slaves of a Foreign Will (Sklaven fremden Willens), his first German film, in which he played a
Phil Goldstone had previously worked with Bellamy and offered her the role of Madeleine Short for a salary of $5,000.[20] For the role of Dr. Bruner, the Halperins looked for an actor with name value and decided to cast Joseph Cawthorn, who was then known to audiences only as comic relief in stage and film roles.[21] Set designer Ralph Berger utilized the rented sets of previous films. These sets included the great halls from Dracula, pillars and a hanging balcony from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), the dark corridors from Frankenstein (1931) and chairs from The Cat and the Canary (1927).[22] At RKO-Pathé sets from The King of Kings (1927) were used for the interior of Legendre's castle.[1]
In addition to Berger, assistant director William Cody and sound director L.E. "Pete" Clark earned their first film credit by working on White Zombie.
Clarence Muse took over the role of the coach driver after principal photography had already begun. Some footage of the unknown original was used in White Zombie.[4]
The music of White Zombie was supervised by Abe Meyer. Instead of using pre-recorded music, Meyer had orchestras record new versions of compositions for each specific film he was involved in. The music in White Zombie draws from works including Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", Gaston Borch's "Incidental Symphonies", and Hugo Riesenfeld's "Death of the Great Chief".[23] Other pieces on the White Zombie soundtrack include music written by Richard Wagner, H. Maurice Jacquet, Leo Kempenski, and Franz Liszt. The film begins with "Chant", a composition of wordless vocals and drumming, created by Universal Studios employee Guy Bevier Williams, a specialist in ethnic music.[24]
Footage shot for White Zombie was recycled for a follow-up film, Revolt of the Zombies – also made by Halperin Productions – which was released in 1936.[4]
Release
White Zombie experienced distribution problems from the beginning, and went through several film studios including
Critical response
Most critical reviews focused on the poor silent era-style acting, stilted dialogue, and over-the-top storyline.
National media outlet reviewers were generally negative.
Modern critical reception has been mixed, with critics praising the film's atmosphere while deprecating the acting.
Box office
White Zombie premiered on July 28, 1932, in New York City's Rivoli Theatre. The film received a mixed box office reception upon its initial release, but was a great financial success for an independent film at the time.
Opening on July 29, 1932, in
Home media
White Zombie was transferred from poor quality prints to VHS and Betamax in the 1980s.
Aftermath and influence
White Zombie is considered to be the first feature length zombie film and has been described as the archetype and model of all zombie movies.[47][48] Not many early horror films followed White Zombie's Haitian origins style. Other horror films from the 1930s borrowed themes from White Zombie, such as people returning from the dead and other elements of zombie mythology.[49] These films include: The Ghost Breakers (1940), King of the Zombies (1941), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and The Plague of the Zombies (1966).[50] These films all contain elements from White Zombie including the blank-eyed stares, the voodoo drums, and zombies performing manual labor.[51]
Victor Halperin directed a White Zombie loose sequel, Revolt of the Zombies, which was released in 1936. Béla Lugosi was considered for the role of villain Armand Louque, but the part went to Dean Jagger.[52] Cinematographer Arthur Martinelli and producer Edward Halperin returned.[53] Modern critical response to Revolt of the Zombies is generally unfavorable. In a review from Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide, the review declares that "[T]here's no experimentation here, only dull composition shots and flatly lit shots of yakking characters in a by-the-numbers plot."[54] AllMovie rated White Zombie three stars out of five, while it gave Revolt of the Zombies only one star and deemed it far inferior to the original.[55][56]
Scenes from White Zombie have appeared in other films including Curtis Hanson's The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Michael Almereyda's Nadja, and Tim Burton's Ed Wood.[57]
The heavy metal band White Zombie appropriated their name from the film. The group's vocalist Rob Zombie said of the film, "[It's] a great film that not a lot of people know about...It amazes me that a film that is so readily available can be so lost."[58] In 1997, the Janus company released a model kit based on the Murder Legendre character.[58]
In 2009, it was announced that Tobe Hooper would direct a remake of White Zombie.[59] Jared Rivet wrote the screenplay for Hooper's remake but the project never came to fruition.[59]
In 2023, Rob Zombie and
See also
References
Notes
- ^ TCM.com. Retrieved: March 19, 2018
- ^ Film opening credits: "White Zombie with Bela Lugosi"
- ^ a b c Rhodes 2001, p. 257
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o White Zombie at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ^ a b Kay 2008, p. 313
- ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
- ^ Staff (August 6, 1932) Variety. p.15
- ^ Billing order per film opening credits
- ^ Grant 2004, p. 210
- ^ Kay 2008, p. 6
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 89
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 91
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 95
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 92
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 104
- ISBN 0-8109-4535-5.
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 97
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 105
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 98
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 99
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 100
- ^ a b c Rhodes 2001, p. 103
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 109
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 110
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 111
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 113
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 112
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 194
- ^ a b c d Rhodes 2001, p. 266
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 265
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 267
- ^ Harrison's Reports film review; August 6, 1932, page 126.
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 268
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 162
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 163
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 237
- Time Out. Archived from the originalon June 7, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- ^ "White Zombie Review". TV Guide. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- ^ Bansk 109
- )
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 271
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 233
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 269
- ^ "DVD Releases for White Zombie". Allmovie. Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- ^ a b Buchanan, Jason. "Horror Classics, Vol. 1: White Zombie: Overview". Allmovie. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011.
- ^ "White Zombie". Kino Lorber. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 13
- ^ Prawer 1989, p. 68
- ^ Kay 2008, p. 5
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 183
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 184
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 171
- Allmovie. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- ^ Kay 2008, p. 9
- ^ Erickson, Hal. "White Zombie: Overview". Allmovie. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- ^ Erickson, Hal. "Revolt of the Zombies: Overview". AllMovie. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- ^ Rhodes 2001, p. 189
- ^ a b Rhodes 2001, p. 190
- ^ a b Turek, Ryan (July 6, 2010). "Tobe Hooper Walking With White Zombie". Shocktillyoudrop.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ Navarro, Meagan (April 28, 2023). "Rob Zombie Presents 'White Zombie' OST Vinyl with Waxwork Records in Ongoing Classic Horror Collaboration". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ Melanson, Angel (April 28, 2023). "Waxwork Records Releases Rob Zombie Presents Collection". Fangoria. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ISBN 9781912740239.
Bibliography
- Bansak, Edmund G. (2003). Fearing the Dark: The Val Lewton Career. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1709-9. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- Grant, Barry Keith & Sharrett, Christopher (2004). Planks of Reason: Essays on the Horror Film. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5013-3. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-500-30049-7.
- Kay, Glenn (2008). Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-770-8. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
- Prawer, Siegbert Salomon (1989). Caligari's Children: The Film as Tale of Terror. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80347-X. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
- Rhodes, Gary Don (2001). White Zombie: Anatomy of a Horror Film. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0988-6. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
External links
- White Zombie on YouTube
- White Zombie at the American Film Institute Catalog
- White Zombie at IMDb
- White Zombie at AllMovie
- White Zombie at the TCM Movie Database
- White Zombie is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
- White Zombie a colorised version is available at Watch Free Movies
- White Zombie at Rotten Tomatoes