White Zombie (1932)

Director:

Victor Halperin

Writers:

Garnett Weston (dialogue)
Garnett Weston (story)

Release Date:

4 agosto 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Frase comercial:

The Dead Walk Among Us!

Plot:

A young man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiance, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.

Plot Keywords:

Zombie Slave | Plantation | Living Dead | Haiti | Voodoo

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Classic Zombie movie

Cast

Bela Lugosi	...	'Murder' Legendre
Madge Bellamy	...	Madeleine Short Parker
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Dr. Bruner (missionary)
Robert Frazer	...	Charles Beaumont
John Harron	...	Neil Parker
Brandon Hurst	...	Silver (the butler)
George Burr Macannan	...	Von Gelder (a zombie) (as George Burr MacAnnan)
Frederick Peters	...	Chauvin (a zombie)
Annette Stone	...	Maid
John Printz	...	Ledot (the witch doctor zombie)
Dan Crimmins	...	Pierre (witch doctor)
Claude Morgan	...	Zombie
John Fergusson	...	Zombie
Velma Gresham	...	Maid
Hans Joby	...	Chauvin (a zombie) (as John S. Peters)
listado alfabético del resto del reparto:
Clarence Muse	...	Coach driver (uncredited)

Dirigida por
Victor Halperin

Créditos del guión (in alphabetical order)
Garnett Weston		dialogue
Garnett Weston		story

Producida por
Edward Halperin	....	producer
Phil Goldstone	....	producer (uncredited)

Música original por
Xavier Cugat		(uncredited)

Fotografía por
Arthur Martinelli

Montaje por
Harold McLernon		(as Howard McLernon)

Dirección artística
Ralph Berger

Departamento de maquillaje
Carl Axzelle	....	makeup artist (as Carl Axcelle)
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (as Jack Pierce)

Ayudante de dirección
William Cody	....	assistant director
Herbert Glazer	....	assistant director

Art Department
Conrad Tritschler	....	sets

Departamento de sonido
L.E. Clark	....	sound engineer

Efectos especiales
Howard A. Anderson	....	special effects (as Harold Anderson)

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles Bohny	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Jockey Arthur Feindel	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Enzo A. Martinelli	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Guy Bevier	....	composer: title theme (as Guy Bevier Williams)
Gaston Borch	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Nathaniel Dett	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Nem Herkin	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
H. Maurice Jacquet	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Leo Kempinski	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Abe Meyer	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Hugo Riesenfeld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Otros miembros del equipo
Herbert Farjeon	....	dialogue director
Sidney Marcus	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Edward Halperin Productions
• Victor Halperin Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• Screencraft Pictures Inc. (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Joseph Brenner Associates (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Roan Group, The (1992) (USA) (VHS) (laserdisc)
• Roan Group, The (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Roan Group, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• E-Realbiz.com (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• K-tel Video Inc. (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Flashback Home Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Passport International Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Admit One Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Englewood Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Mars Distribution (????) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• Amusement Securities Corp.  financing
• Clarco Inc.  sound

También conocida como:

Legión de los hombres sin alma, La (Spain) [es]

Duración:

69 min | Canada:85 min (Ontario) | USA:67 min (Roan restoration)

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (RCA Photophone Noiseless Recording)

Clasificación:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Australia:PG | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Edward Halperin Productions

Trivialidades:

The film was thought lost until its rediscovery in the 1960s. A court battle was fought between film distributor Frank Storace and the estate of Stanley Krellberg, the copyright owner of the film. Storace had wished to produce a restored version of the film but the estate refused him access to original footage in their possession. Storace gave up the court battle and did not win his access to his original footage.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Parker drunkenly staggers to Madeleine's crypt through the graveyard, he grabs a tombstone in passing. The tombstone wiggles.

Quotes:

Charles Beaumont: But there must be another way.
Legendre: There is no other way!

Movie Connections:

Featured in 'Weird Al' Yankovic: The Videos (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)

Classic Zombie movie

You have to change your way of looking at movies to really enjoy old horror movies like this one. Don't be in a rush to see action, violence and don't expect to see any bloodshed at all. Most of the grisly part is implied and you have to fill in the details. Instead, watch it for the scenery, the acting and the plot.

I prefer the older horror films to the newer, slash-fest movies because they allow me to think and they generally have a good, moral theme. You never have a good guy as a demon or a fiend, for instance.

White Zombie has the older, traditional zombie characters that are not evil in themselves. Instead, they are mindless and controlled by a shaman, who is generally evil and must be destroyed to set the zombies, who are victims, free. In the newer Zombie movies like Night of the Living Dead, the Zombies are either not controlled or are evil themselves and must be destroyed.

I think the acting by the zombies is very good and so is their make-up (i.e. they have very frightening faces.) Their master, played by Bela Lugosi, is also played masterfully. The missionary is also good, but most of the rest of the cast is only average.

It's a fun movie to watch and I gave it a score of 7 out of 10. If you love early horror movies, buy it. Don't pay more than $10 unless it's packaged with other movies because the picture and the sound quality are weak. If not, you might catch it on a Friday night horror fest on TV. It's worth the time watching it if for Bela Lugosi alone.