Shudder Saturday: White Zombie (1932)

As a big fan of zombie movies, White Zombie was one I had been aiming to see for many years. The only other one now left on my list is I Walked With A Zombie, which will make me happy. I'm not saying there aren't many other zombie movies I need to see, but these are the sub-genre milestones that I feel I should have marked off my list way before now.

Being from 1932, White Zombie obviously isn't a gore-filled zombie flick as we mostly know them today. It's a rather sedate little film, but full of great atmosphere, as well as some great eyeball work from Bela Lugosi.

Madge Bellamy plays Madeline Short, a woman due to marry her fiancé, Neil Parker (John Harron), in Haiti. Staying at the home of a plantation owner named Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer), viewers soon learn that Charles is in love with Madeline, so much so that he enlists the assistance of a man named 'Murder' (Lugosi). 'Murder' is a bit of an expert when it comes to zombiefying people, so his plan naturally involves a poison which will make Madeline seem dead, allowing her to then be resurrected and controlled. This plan causes some upset for Neil, to put it mildly, who eventually teams up with Dr. Bruner (Joseph Cawthorn) when he suspects that the love of his life isn't really as dead as she appeared to be.

Although quite creaky, and without any great acting throughout, White Zombie has to be viewed as an impressive horror piece from a time when we weren't being overrun by hordes of the undead. In fact, it would seem to be the very first proper zombie film, which means it deserves a little respect for that alone, if nothing else.

Director Victor Halperin moves everything along swiftly enough, making fine use of the sets to keep the spooky and oppressive atmosphere throughout, and the runtime clocks in at about the 70-minute mark, ensuring you shouldn't be fed up of it by the time it ends, even if one or two scenes feature characters clarifying some rules and behaviours that are now common knowledge to most horror fans. The script, by Garnett Weston, does a good job of putting everything and everyone in the right place, and building towards a third act that remains entertaining enough, even if it's easy to see coming a mile away.

Lugosi is the star here, for his gaze and the hand movement he keeps making while controlling any zombies. If you're a fan of the horror icon then that's another reason to watch this. Bellamy is pleasant enough, but spends a large portion of her screentime in her "dazed" state, and both Frazer and Harron do decent work. It's a shame that Cawthorn, playing the knowledgeable doctor, isn't better in his role, as he gets to play the elderly figure so often turned into the real hero in movies from this time, but he's just alright.

Not a film to convert anyone who dislikes older movies, White Zombie is definitely one to watch if you are a horror fan interested in the cinematic history of the genre. It's a vital touchstone, and gives Lugosi some more iconic moments.

6/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

If you haven't heard of this movie then you've led a very sheltered life. Plan 9 From Outer Space is often referred to as "the worst movie ever made" and when you watch the thing you can't help but think of that title. It makes it hard to take the movie seriously and yet it also makes it hard to hate.

The story is standard b-movie fare in some ways - aliens come down to Earth in flying saucers, fly around scaring folks and also reanimate corpses to . . . . . . . scare more folks. The real laughs come when you find out the motivation for all of this and see/hear the plot developments during the second half. It's so preposterous that I properly laughed out loud on a couple of occasions.

The man behind this cinematic lowpoint is, as many of you will already know, Edward D. Wood Jr. AKA Ed Wood. He directed the thing, and shows some tiny iota of competence despite the cheap design, all-too-fake props, bad acting and lack of continuity, but he also wrote the thing, which helps to overshadow that one tiny iota of competence. I've seen a LOT of bad movies (and, for the record, I don't think this is the worst thing I've ever watched) but I can't think of any that have suffered from such a poor script. When the events aren't being narrated as they occur onscreen we get some of the most inane conversations that you'll ever hear outside of any live Big Brother coverage.

The cast includes the brilliantly-monikered Dudley Manlove, the lumbering giant known as Tor Johnson, an old and frail Bela Lugosi, the lady known as Vampira and a selection of other people, some of whom at least try to work with the absurd material and some of them who don't even seem to do that.

The special effects look like they've been made by someone who couldn't even win a Blue Peter badge for themselves, the actions of the characters are almost as bad as the lines of dialogue given to each, Tom Mason is a terrible stand-in for Bela Lugosi and the material bookending the main storyline is ridiculous. I'm sure there are people who could easily nominate this as the worst movie that they've ever seen but I'm not one of them. I was never bored and I couldn't help having some affection for this filmed failure. I still have to say that it's very, very bad though. Just not the worst.

3/10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plan-From-Outer-Space-DVD/dp/B00005KH0Y

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Bringing together two things I loved in my youth, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein easily remains one of my favourite A & C outings. Of course, purists will balk at a number of factors. The fact that they don't actually MEET Frankenstein but, rather, Frankenstein's monster is one minor criticism often brought up but I must say that this is simply a minor error in an effort to truncate the title because throughout the film the monster is known as The Monster (or Junior, etc). It is never mislabelled as Frankenstein. The other criticism often levelled at this film, and a major one, is that it really was the end of the line for the classic Universal monsters and many fans of those great horror movies saw this as a real dignity-stripping fanfare for the villains they loved (Glenn Strange plays "The Monster" while Bela Lugosi returns to play Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr. once again embodies Larry Talbot/The Wolfman). This is a harder criticism to just shrug off and I think it comes down to personal taste. The monsters themselves aren't necessarily the butt of most of the jokes but they're certainly not the feared figures they once were. Personally, I love the clash between that world of cobwebs and creaking coffin lids and the patter of Abbott & Costello.

The plot sees our comedy duo getting themselves caught up in quite a monster mash between all of those I've already mentioned. I don't think I need to say any more though I will say that the plot has at least been created with a decent idea or two used to bring this motley crew together.

Director Charles Barton is at the helm once again and does a great job, once again. The performances are all quite enjoyable - as well as those icons of horror we also have decent support from Lenore Aubert, Jane Randolph, Frank Ferguson and Charles Bradstreet (there's even a fleeting cameo from Vincent Price) - and the movie wastes no time in setting up the action and wringing the laughs from it. Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo and John Grant are back on the writing duties and the premise of the movie allows them to create some real gems. This is the movie with the following, unforgettable exchange -

Larry Talbot: "You don't understand. Every night when the moon is full, I turn into a wolf."
Wilbur: "You and twenty million other guys."

I wish I could recommend this to everyone and know that they would like it as unconditionally as I do but I know that will never happen. In the meantime, I just hope that some people give it a viewing soon and find themselves laughing more often than not.

9/10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Abbott-Costello-Meet-Frankenstein-Mummy/dp/B000GKHM28