Rating: 
Summary: Good, but could have been better.
Review: Having just seen The Plague of the zombies last night (thank you channel 4) I have to agree with a lot of the points of the above reviews. It is a highly atmospheric film; one of the great strengths of the Hammer style, although as usual the films title is always more sensationalist than the actual content of the film, and the acting is for the most part top notch. But as a huge fan of this era of horror films, the Hammer films especially, I always found one production aspect of their films a touch disappointing, the continuity. Scenes that are supposedly taking place in the dead night and yet it's clearly daytime or late evening at best. The day for night photography is an extremely poor substitute for the real thing. An example would be the scene where Sir James and Dr. Thompson sneak into the graveyard at night to exhume a recently deceased villager in order to perform an autopsy on the corpse. They have just unearthed the coffin when Sir James notices two policemen standing behind them staring at them. When Sir James and Dr. Thompson look up at two policemen the sky behind the coppers is a lovely shade of blue, not exactly the dead of night then. This kind of lax attitude to continuity can be found in practically all the Hammer films, even in my favourite Hammer Flicks, Dracula (Horror of Dracula), The Curse of Frankstein, Dracula, prince of darkness, Hands of the Ripper, The Devil rides out, Dracula has risen from the grave, The reptile, The satanic rites of Dracula and many others. I 'm not sure whether it was a technical problem, although I've read it was something to do with Hammer trying to avoid paying the cast & crew extra for a night shoot. It a great pity because I feel it's something that take's away from the over all classiness of Hammer Horror. The Plague of the zombies is a very enjoyable flick, but as far as out n' out zombie flicks go, George Romero will always be the master.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad. Not bad at all! :)
Review: I watched this Hammer production only yesterday and it's worth watching from beginning to end. It's especially a treat to be savored on Halloween night. Although I basically knew what this 1966 film was about, it nevertheless held my interest. Just about all of the movie's elements, such as the script, camera shots and overall direction, have been carefully crafted so that John Gilling would avoid creating a hackneyed, cliche-driven monster flick. Not bad, considering that "The Plague of the Zombies" was filmed in a single month!
Actor Andre Morell stars as Sir James Forbes, a London Professor who travels to Cornwall after answering a distress letter sent by his ex-student Peter Thompson (Brook Williams). Cornwall itself is a small communal village riddled with superstitious beliefs; the villagers won't allow scientific research performed on their dead. Upon arriving, Forbes investigates a mysterious fever that has killed 12 villagers. The cause of this disease is unknown, but Peter's study indicates that every victim suffered dementia, a loss of appetite, and skin discoloration. What makes this case even stranger is how the bodies buried in the Cornwall cemetary are disappearing! Later, Forbes' strong-willed daughter Sylvia (Diane Clare) follows Peter's distressed wife Alice (Jacqueline Pearce) after she suddenly wanders away from home in a trance. Curious about Alice's mental state, Sylvia eventually comes across an abadoned tin factory where Alice's body turns up dead. Sylvia, meanwhile, gets a frightful scare in an accidental encounter with a walking corpse! After collecting a number of scientific clues, Forbes, Sylvia and Peter eventually uncover a devious scheme conducted by Clive Hamilton (John Carson), the town's wealthy Squire. The suave and sadistic Hamilton is secretly performing voodoo rituals to infect innocent villagers with zombification; once transformed, the living dead are forced into slavery, working endlessly in the tin factory's underground mines. In a wicked pattern, Hamilton preys upon each victim by politely asking for a drink of water, dropping the glass and forcing each person to cut his/her skin. This enables the Squire to collect drops of blood and seal each victim's fate with black magic. After discovering this, the alarmed Sir James and Peter race against time; they must break into Hamilton's estate and rescue Sylvia before SHE becomes the Squire's latest zombie slave!
Like I said before, this film is guaranteed to hold your interest in place. Beware for a few scares! Wide-eyed corpses will rise from their graves only to be decapitated and set on fire! Also watch out for masked figures wearing hollow masks and dripping blood into wooden coffins!
Rating:
Summary: A small gem from Hammer studios
Review: I watched this little gem for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. The story is well written and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I was particularly impressed by the performance André Morell who plays Dr. Forbes. He has a Sherlock Holmes-esque quality as he tries to solve the mystery of a "plague" that is killing off residents of a small village. As the story unfolds we are exposed to voodoo rituals, murder, and zombies. The movie retains a gothic atmosphere in typical Hammer fashion. The DVD transfer is beautiful with only a hint of scratches at a couple of points in the film. The picture is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic format and the sound is clear. I recommend this film for collectors of classic horror flicks as well as those adding to their Hammer library.
Rating:
Summary: "Director John Gilling does it again!"
Review: Intelligently written allegory of colonial blight and ravening classism which is also very well acted and superbly directly by Gilling ,and who is also an imaginative screenwriter in his own right). It is a much more potent and intelligent symbolic depiction of class warfare than NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and also anticipates Fulci's ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS. The zombie resurrection sequence is still one of the best of its kind and has proven very influential to the point of being used in other films. The idea of utilizing zombies as undead labor appeared first, I believe in WHITE ZOMBIE. This being the first modern Zombie film, and being one of Hammer's best horror films not directed by King Terence Fisher. Gilling would later go on to make the superior "The Reptile(1966)..and also checkout his minor effort "The Mummy's Shroud(1967)...and finnaly his best film "The Devil's Cross(1975)"...and if you missed any of his earlier work, the best one to check out is "Shadow of the Cat(1960)", and "the Flesh & the Fiends(1959)"
Rating:
Summary: Correct format ?.
Review: It's a very nice film, but something is odd. -When you watch the trailer for the movie, you'll notice that it's presented in the scope format; revealing more picture information at the sides, than what you saw while watching the movie itself. If they filmed it in Techniscope (or Hammerscope, if you will), why the heck didn't Hammer originally,(and Anchor Bay now) release it that way ?. Still, it's a good film.
Rating:
Summary: Plague of the Zombies
Review: It's impossible to give a Hammer-style film a 5 star review but this one is pretty good. Atmospheric and dreamlike, it is only let down by a poor turn by John Carson as the villian of the piece and by the usual Hammer lack of pace. Andre Morell is a sympathetic lead and the zombie scenes are ahead of their time (George Romero has obviously seen this film.) A classic of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Great 60s Movie
Review: Not only is this a great example of the kind of stylish, elemental period thriller that Hollywood is utterly incapable of making, it's great fodder for examination of race issues in pre-psycehedelic England. Sting once said that Jimi Hendrix was the first black man he ever saw in the flesh, and with that in mind I was struck by the way the image of the black man is used in this film (voodoo ritual scenes complete with frantic bongo drumming) to convey that telling combination of evil and exoticism. When Hendrix hit the London scene - around the same time this film was made - he was described as the "Wild Man of Borneo", with the same overtones: frightening but sexy. Whether you see this as racist or just an expression of repressed sexuality - or both - is for armchair sociologists to decide. In retrospect, the portrayal seems less overtly racist than just kind of naive, the last gasp of an uptight culture about to get "Experienced" by Lucy in the Sky, Satanic Majesties, Tommy and the rest.
That said, this movie is a great yarn that accomplishes what horror directors can't do anymore: write a script that knows when to take itself seriously and when not to. Modern horror films just push the plausibility envelope to the point of stupidity, and overwhelm themselves with special effects. Movies like POTZ have a great sense of pacing and perspective, with just the right amount of this here and that there. Am I making sense? Just watch the movie and you'll see what I mean!
Rating: 
Summary: Buy it
Review: Not really much to add to what has been said by others on this page. Pague of the zombies is one of the very best efforts from the much derided hammer studios.Hammer films are a strange breed, the best can offer beauty (photography and direction), hilarity, irony and intelligence all combined. Some are very good films, some are riotously silly and some almost unwatchabley boring. Trying to cope with depression, agoraphobia and OCD means that i look for something to make the days go by easier, i couldn't watch television or other movies, but i found myself able to escape with these gems from anchor bay, thanks alot to hammer and anchor bay for giving these films their release on DVD. i am the guy, the anonymous reader from new york here to guide you through your hammer DVD experiences, i'll make sure you know what to expect from which ever hammer you purchase. If you haven't already got this wonderful film plague of the zombies is an essential.
Rating:
Summary: Deservedly influential horror
Review: One of Hammer's best directors, John Gilling, has turned out an excellent piece of horror whose influence on the zombie subgenre, especially in terms of its impressive imagery, has been significant.
Admittedly, there are a few faults: Diane Clare is rather unconvincing; Brook Williams overacts; the script, while very good overall, suffers occasional lapses. However, these weaknesses are outweighed by an otherwise excellent cast and execution. It is hard not to see shades of Christopher Lee in John Carson, superb as the outwardly charming, inwardly villainous Squire. Andre Morell is strong as usual in the role of the main protagonist.
Like Gilling's next film, The Reptile, made back-to-back on the same sets, Plague of the Zombies's thematic centre is power, authority and oppression, and the film is full of ironic role-reversals, all of which foreshadow the Squire's eventual demise, the triumph over imperialism and tyranny.
But if the sophisticated subtext makes it all sound rather too dark and heavy-going, don't be put off: This is a ripping good horror tale in Hammer's best and most enjoyable style.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Hammer movie
Review: Overall, good zombie movie. Arguments and action take place in a very fluid manner so you will not get bored. Good scenery as you might expect from most Hammer productions. Very nice clamshell packing with photos and extra information on the backside of the cover. In my opinion, main flaw of this movie lies in the idea of somebody creating and then using zombies as a slave working force in mining exploitation. Thus zombies are somewhat domesticated by a "master creator" and his collaborators, which remains a little bit unconvincing. The more classic idea of achieving eternal existence could have been used instead as the main argument to justify the actions of the bad guy. Anyway, good movie for any old horror movie fan.
|
