Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful creepy atmosphere !
Review: "White zombie" is one of Lugosi's best performances even better than Dracula ! But that's my personal opinion. The zombies are very impressive, they really looked like dead ! I also like very much Lugosi's lair near the sea ! A kind of a castle on the top of a cliff. The interiors are like a cathedral. Even it's sometimes slow paced, you'll never get bored. OK the other actors are not so convincing, but the atmosphere is wonderful creepy. For instance the mill where the zombies worked for Lugosi, the cemetery and don't forget the grazy voodou song at the beginning of the film ! Fans of old fashioned horror movies will find this little gem very delightful.
The quality of this Alpha DVD is quite good. Picture looks fine most of the time, even there are some jumps. The sound is not so great, but still acceptable. It's the perfect film for a saturday evening just before midnight.
Rating: 
Summary: Full of atmosphere
Review: A classic movie made on a shoestring. Lugosi is in one of his most chilling portrayals. There is no sympathy generated for Murder LeGrande, the character he portrays. The character is cold and unreal, and Lugosi plays it to the hilt. There is a scene where Lugosi picks up a glass of wine where his hand completely surrounds the top of the glass like a huge spider!Even though it's not a movie made with a big budget (or maybe because of that fact) the film has great atmosphere. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Done
Review: Absolutely one of the most imaginative, stylized and unusual films that I have seen. Bela Lugosi is wonderful in this 1930's horror flick. The sets are truely awesome and very remenicent of Dracula done the year before. It is a real treat to behold Lugosi at his best. The acting and the music are blended well and despite the stageyness of the film; the dreamlike quality of it will hold you attention. A must see for Lugosi fans.
Rating:
Summary: lugosi as a creative force
Review: according to insiders lugosi practically co-directed this ambititous, early sound horror film.
this seems likely as the halperins' subsequent follow ups do not bear the style of this one.
it is unfortunate that lugosi was never again allowed any creative input (other than acting) because this film outdistances his dracula and other films by a long shot.
even today,scenes like the grinding of the mill (slow, methodic, underplayed- how nonchalantly the zombie falls into the pit) leave a queeziness over the viewer.
and lugosi's legandre is soooo slimy he virtually leaves a trail.
a work of subtle expressionism and other worldly dreaminess.
the roan remastering is a labour of love. this group deserves the accolades it received.
it's the only print to get.
Rating:
Summary: UNIQUELY BIZZARE
Review: After arriving in Haiti to meet her fiance, a blushing bride-to-be is quickly transformed in to a pallid, soulless body by an ultra-creepy voodoo master at the behest of a jealous rival who desires her........This is a genuinely eerie horror flick with a slow, stagey out-of-this world quality complimented by an interesting sense of composition. In Haiti, zombies work for their white master Lugosi (in a blissfully evil camp performance) on a sugar plantation; here he menaces young newlyweds......... The rarely seen silent star Madge Bellamy (she wrote the autobiographical A DARLING OF THE TWENTIES very late in life while living in abject poverty) is not seen to advantage here, her acting style too reminiscent of silents. This low-budget flick (it was made in 11 days on a budget of only $50,000) is uniquely enjoyable nevertheless.
Rating:
Summary: White Zombie-The First Zombie Film?
Review: Arguably the FIRST "Zombie" film, WHITE ZOMBIE is an unheralded classic. Bela Lugosi turns in one of his most menacing & effective performances in this film as the malevolent Murder Legendre. It's too bad that Lugosi's legacy is forever linked to DRACULA when he gave an equally compelling performance in this classic. The zombies looked very menacing for its time. And this movie follows the legend of the zombie more closely than later on incantations made popular by George Romero's classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968). The next closest interpretation of the zombie legend was probably Jacques Tourneur's masterpiece I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) but that's another story.
Rating:
Summary: Bela at his Best
Review: Bela Lugosi gives a stellar performance as the zombie master in White Zombie. This is one of Lugosi's strongest performances and one of his strongest films. White Zombie is consistently entertaining from beginning to end. And that entertainment rises and falls on Lugosi's wonderful ability to breathe life into even the "deadest" of roles. The movie begins with an engaging yet eerie "Haitian" funeral song and it is revealed that a burial ceremony is taking place in the middle of the road because so many bodies have been stolen -- no sooner do we learn this than Bela appears with a entourage of zombies. He steals a scarf from the film's ingenue. It seems he has been contracted by a wealthy plantation owner to secure the love of this fair maiden for him. Of course it isn't
long before Bela turns on the wealthy scoundrel and makes him a zombie too. Of course true love wins in the end and Lugosi is pushed off a cliff by the new zombified planataion owner and the young woman and her handsome beau are free to go get married. . . But through it all Bela Lugosi makes you believe he is truly capable of controlling the wills of others with his magnificent eyes and powerful imminence. This is the movie that Bela and Ed are watching in the movie Ed Wood -- and he uses the famous interlocking hand gesture that he would later repeat in Bride of the Monster. White Zombie is my favorite zombie movie -- I realize it doesn't provide he visceral thrills and claustraphobic intensity that Night of the Living ead does -- but it is a more subtle kind of film that focusses on the zombie master rather than his minnions. The film's director knew Bela's strengths as a silent actor and utilizes him to the fullest. I highly recommend White Zomie to the Bela Lugosi and horror movie fan. It is practically a textbook example of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Lugosi's Gleeful Malice Makes for a Classic Film
Review: Bela Lugosi was an actor born to play horror roles, though later in life he would regret the typecasting. In "White Zombie", made a year or so after his success in "Dracula", he gets to play notorious zombie master Murder Legendre. Set in Haiti in contemporary (1932) times, the film is really an old-fashioned Grimm's fairy tale with the heroine-in-distress (Madge Bellamy), the husband/lover and the wise Van Helsing type who set out to rescue her, the treacherous plantation master who wants her, and the evil wizard (Lugosi), who has his own plans. There are wonderful touches (a poisoned rose, a king vulture that is Legendre's "familiar", the motley crew of zombies he leads, and his mountaintop castle like something out of Dore or Beardsley.) The age of the film actually enhances its atmosphere, and though it was made on a much smaller budget than "Dracula" was actually its superior in many ways--fluid, cinematic, and full of action and changes of scene. Lugosi had a hand in the dialog and even directed several key scenes that enhanced the character of Legendre. He quite throws himself into the role, gleefully etching lines of dialog in his own special, otherworldly kind of venom. One could wish for similarly fine performances from some of the other players, especially the husband of the imperiled heroine, but Lugosi is the show, and the atmosphere, photography, script, and incidental music all add to the effectiveness. For classic horror movie buffs, this is fun from beginning to end, and for Lugosi fans it's a chance to catch the master at the top of his form. END
Rating:
Summary: Lugosi's Gleeful Malice Makes for a Classic Film
Review: Bela Lugosi was an actor born to play horror roles, though later in life he would regret the typecasting. In "White Zombie", made a year or so after his success in "Dracula", he gets to play notorious zombie master Murder Legendre. Set in Haiti in contemporary (1932) times, the film is really an old-fashioned Grimm's fairy tale with the heroine-in-distress (Madge Bellamy), the husband/lover and the wise Van Helsing type who set out to rescue her, the treacherous plantation master who wants her, and the evil wizard (Lugosi), who has his own plans. There are wonderful touches (a poisoned rose, a king vulture that is Legendre's "familiar", the motley crew of zombies he leads, and his mountaintop castle like something out of Dore or Beardsley.) The age of the film actually enhances its atmosphere, and though it was made on a much smaller budget than "Dracula" was actually its superior in many ways--fluid, cinematic, and full of action and changes of scene. Lugosi had a hand in the dialog and even directed several key scenes that enhanced the character of Legendre. He quite throws himself into the role, gleefully etching lines of dialog in his own special, otherworldly kind of venom. One could wish for similarly fine performances from some of the other players, especially the husband of the imperiled heroine, but Lugosi is the show, and the atmosphere, photography, script, and incidental music all add to the effectiveness. For classic horror movie buffs, this is fun from beginning to end, and for Lugosi fans it's a chance to catch the master at the top of his form. END
Rating:
Summary: yes it is a strange film, isn't it ?
Review: Between the introduction of sound and the imposition of the Hollywood Code, some of the most inventive movies ever seen were produced and 'White Zombie' is a prime example. On paper, the plot is pretty basic. However it is the ultra-strange premise - zombies roaming around the Haiti countryside working as slaves for a power-mad Bela Lugosi - that makes the film so unique. It doesn't have the polished feel of the classic Universal horrors such as 'The Mummy' or 'Frankenstein' but it lacks nothing in imagination. The movie also benefits from good direction and excellent set designs. A lot of credit must go to the 'Roan Group' for the production of this DVD. We get the obligatory trailer and commentary but the real bonus is the picture quality. You will not find a better print of 'White Zombie' anywhere. Do not make the mistake of thinking 'White Zombie' is a museum piece only of interest to film buffs because of its age. The selling point of this DVD is that above all 'White Zombie' is highly entertaining, so don't just watch it - enjoy it!
|
