Large portions of White Zombie were shot on the Universal Studios lot, borrowing many props and scenery from other horror films of the era. The film opened in New York to negative reception, with reviewers criticizing the film's over-the-top story and weak acting. While the film made a substantial financial profit as an independent feature, it proved less popular than other horror films of the time.
White Zombie is considered the first feature lengthzombie 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
The action of White Zombie is set in Haiti in 1932. Much of the plot revolves around Legendre, Beaumont, another plantation master, and a newly arrived couple, Neil and his fiancée Madeleine,[9] and how Legendre turns her into a "braindead" zombie.[10][11][12]
On arrival in Haiti, Madeleine Short reunites with her fiancé Neil Parker, with imminent plans to be married. On the way to their lodging, the couple's coach passes Murder Legendre, an evil voodoo master, who observes them with interest, and grabs Madeleine's scarf, which he uses in later voodoo rituals against her. Neil and Madeleine arrive at the home of a wealthy plantation owner, Charles Beaumont. Charles' love of Madeleine prompts him to meet Murder secretly in Murder's sugar cane mill, operated entirely by zombies, one of whom falls into a cane-grinding pit. Charles wants to convince Madeleine to marry him and solicits Murder's supernatural assistance. Murder states that the only way to help Charles is to transform Madeleine into a zombie with a potion. Beaumont, aghast at first, finally agrees, takes the potion, and surreptitiously gives it to Madeleine inside flowers for her wedding. Shortly after Madeleine and Neil's wedding ceremony, local missionary Dr. Bruner presiding, the potion takes effect on Madeleine, who apparently dies and is buried soon afterward. Murder and Charles enter Madeleine's tomb at night and bring her back to life as a zombie. In a drunken state, a depressed Neil sees ghostly apparitions of Madeleine and goes to her tomb. On finding it empty, Neil seeks out the assistance of Bruner, who informs him that Madeleine might not be dead at all; he recounts how Murder had used potions to turn many of his rivals into living but soulless zombies, who now act as Murder's closest guardians. The two men journey to Murder's cliffside castle to rescue Madeleine.
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, who shoots them, but this does not stop them. Bruner approaches Murder and knocks him out, breaking Murder's mental control over his zombies. Undirected, the zombies walk forward and 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.
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.[13][14] Webb sued the Halperins for copyright infringement, but did not win his case.[4] Hoping to cash in on the country's interest in voodoo, which began with William B. Seabrook's 1929 book on Haitian voodou, The Magic Island, the film, then titled Zombie, went into development in early 1932.[15] The Halperins leased office space from Universal Studios.[16] Garnett Weston's story focuses more on action than dialogue.[17] To aid the Halperins, producer Phil Goldstone helped secure funds for White Zombie as he had for other independent films at the time.[16][18] Much of the funding came from Amusement Securities Corp.[4]
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.[21][22]
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.[23] In contrast, assistant cameraman Enzo Martinelli remarked that "Lugosi wasn't really a friendly type" on set.[23] 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 Svengali-like hypnotist with mesmerizing eyes.[1]
Phil Goldstone had previously worked with Bellamy and offered her the role of Madeleine Short for a salary of $5,000.[24] 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.[25] 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).[26] 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.[26]Jack Pierce, Lugosi's make-up artist on White Zombie, had been responsible for the make-up of several other famous horror films of the era including Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and The Mummy (1932).[19][26]
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".[27] 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.[28]
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]
Murder Legendre (also stylised "Murder" Legendre[29][30]) is the antagonist of the film, portrayed by actor Bela Lugosi.[31][32] A malevolent voodoo and zombie master with telepathic powers,[33] this character is remembered as one of the actor's most striking performances[34][35] and has been the subject of various interpretations.
Murder Legendre was born in Haiti somewhere in the 1890s-1900s. At a young age he met Ledot, a witch doctor who taught him all the skills of voodoo and witchcraft.[36] After mastering them all, Murder becomes a vodou master himself.[37] He used his voodoo powers to turn Ledot into a zombie, he then turned many of his enemies into zombies and made them all work as slaves in his sugar mill.[38][39]
The character of Legendre is in general identified as white. But some authors identify him as black. In her essay on White Zombie and the Creole, Gillian Phillips insists that Legendre's ethnicity is ambiguous and that he embodies both sides of Haitian history.[37] Although his name suggests French roots,[40] Legendre is also presented as a foreign personality of indeterminate origin, who resents the way all sides of the society of the island have treated him.[41]
He is presented as a necromancer,[37] a sorcerer,[42] a voodoo master[43] or a zombie master.[44]
One of his most defining feature is his "sardonically evil smirk",[45] his hypnotic gaze and "long" hands, as well as a forked beard, the result of make-up work by Jack Pierce.[46]
Inspiration
According to author and adventurer William Seabrook in his 1929 novel The Magic Island, a voodoo priestess he met, Maman Celie, briefly inspired Legendre who also is a voodoo priest and witch doctor.[47] In the first chapter of the book, Seabrook describes an innocent Haitian girl being sacrificed and in another, a group of zombies working at a sugar mill.[48]
Analysis
Film historian Gary Don Rhodes mentions in his book about White Zombie that Legendre's Haitian nationality, occupation as a voodoo doctor, and appearance link him closely to Satanism, especially Mephistopheles or Satan himself, while Dr. Bruner would represent Christ.[49] Rhodes also mentions that when Beaumont allows Legendre to drug Madeleine, he literally sells his soul to the devil, especially when Legendre drugs him later on to turn him into a zombie as well. Legendre's sugar mill and castle are built and worked on by his mind-controlled zombies, showcasing the slavery also used to build Mephistopheles's castle, even it is said by Rhodes that Legendre himself prays to the devil with his zombie voodoo rituals.[50][51][pageneeded]
Robert Duffey, in his book about Lugosi, calls the character "one of the great Mephistophelean figures in cinema".[52]
Lugosi is said to have been "severely underpaid" for the performance.[53] The character's malevolence was compared to the actor's own impersonation of Dracula[42] and various commentators consider this performance to be his most notable one after the latter.[54]
In his book about horror film, however, Bryan Seen, who describes him in another book as the "epitome of evil",[45] finds that the character is too unidimensional to allow Lugosi to fully show his talent.[55]
Release
White Zombie experienced distribution problems from the beginning, and went through several film studios including Columbia Studios and Educational Pictures before its initial release.[56]United Artists had been distributing several independent and foreign films that year and bought the rights to release White Zombie.[57] A preview of White Zombie's first cut was shown on June 16, 1932, in New York City.[58] This print of White Zombie had a running time of 74 minutes, whereas the regular distribution prints ran for only 69 minutes.[59]
Critical response
White Zombie ad from The Film Daily, 1932 mentions the critics' negative reviews, but great box office ticket sales
Most critical reviews focused on the poor silent era-style acting, stilted dialogue, and over-the-top storyline.[60][1] William Boehnel of the New York World-Telegram stated: "The plot...is really ridiculous, but not so startlingly so as the acting."[61] Thornton Delehaney of the New York Evening Post wrote, "[T]he story tries to out-Frankenstein Frankenstein, and so earnest is it in its attempt to be thrilling that it overreaches its mark all along the line and resolves into an unintentional and often hilarious comedy."[61] Irene Thirer of the New York Daily News wrote, "Many fantastic and eerie scenes are evolved, but most of them border on ludicrous".[60] Industry trade reviews were more positive. The Film Daily wrote: "It rates with the best of this type of film [...] Bela Lugosi is very impressive and makes the picture worthwhile".[60]Harrison's Reports wrote, "[The film] is certainly not up to the standards of Dracula or Frankenstein, but the types of audience that go for horror pictures will enjoy it".[62][63]
National media outlet reviewers were generally negative. Commonweal opined, "[The film is] interesting only in measure of its complete failure".[62]Liberty wrote, "If you do not get a shock out of this thriller, you will get one out of the acting". In Vanity Fair's "Worst Movie of 1932" article, Pare Lorentz wrote about a "terrific deadlock with Blonde Venus holding a slight lead over White Zombie, Bring 'Em Back Alive, and Murders in the Rue Morgue".[64] In the United Kingdom, press was mixed. The Kinematograph Weekly thought the film was "quite well acted, and has good atmosphere" but thought, too, it was "not for the squeamish or the highly intelligent".[65]The Cinema News and Property Gazette thought the film was for the "less sophisticated" and that the "exaggerated treatment of the subject achieves reverse effect to thrill or conviction".[66] Years after the film's release, Victor Halperin expressed a distaste for his horror films: "I don't believe in fear, violence, and horror, so why traffic in them?"[67]
Modern critical reception has been mixed, with critics praising the film's atmosphere while deprecating the acting. Time Out London wrote, "Halperin shoots this poetic melodrama as trance... The unique result constitutes a virtual bridge between classic Universal horror and the later Val Lewton productions."[68]TV Guide gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, comparing the film's atmosphere to Carl Dreyer's film Vampyr. However, the magazine described the acting as "woefully inadequate", with the exception of Lugosi.[69] Edward G. Bansk, a Val Lewton biographer, identified several flaws in White Zombie, including poor acting, bad timing and other "haphazard and sloppy" film aspects. Bansk wrote, "Although White Zombie is a film with courage, a film difficult not to admire, its ambitions overstep competence of its principal players."[70] Noting Legendre's statement that obedient zombies "work faithfully and are not worried with long hours," the film has also been seen as an allegory of class exploitation under capitalism and colonialism.[71]
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.[72][73] In 1933 and 1934, the film experienced positive box-office numbers in small towns in the United States, as well as in Germany under the title Flucht von der Teufelsinsel. White Zombie was one of the few American horror films to be approved by the Nazis.[73] The popularity of the film led Victor Halperin to a contract with Paramount Studios.[60]
Opening on July 29, 1932, in Providence, Rhode Island, and Indianapolis, Indiana, the film grossed $9,900 and $5,000, respectively, following one-week engagements. Frankenstein and other contemporary horror films had grossed more in Providence, and the Indianapolis theater "wasn't too happy with White Zombie, but what audiences saw it were pleased enough."[74] In Cleveland, Ohio, White Zombie sold a record 16,728 tickets its first weekend on its initial release in August.[65] In Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the film opened August 3 at the Princess Theatre. The facade had been transformed into a "House of the Living Dead" and "zombies" walked atop the marquee. The film failed to gross its estimated $8,000 and earned only $6,500 following a one-week run at the Princess Theatre. In comparison, Dracula had grossed $14,000 at Montreal's Palace Theatre during its first week in March 1931.[74]
Home media
White Zombie was transferred from poor quality prints to VHS and Betamax in the 1980s.[59] The film has been released on DVD from several companies – including K-Tel and Alpha Video — with varying image quality.[75][76] The book Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide described the Roan's later DVD release of the title as the best available.[5] The online film database Allmovie features a positive review of the Roan Group's transfer, stating the film "has never looked better".[76] The film was released on Blu-ray on January 29, 2013, from Kino Video.[77]
White Zombie is considered to be the first feature lengthzombie film and has been described as the archetype and model of all zombie movies.[78][79] 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.[80] 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).[81] These films all contain elements from White Zombie including the blank-eyed stares, the voodoo drums, and zombies performing manual labor.[82]
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[83] when the producers had a dispute with Lugosi.[84] Cinematographer Arthur Martinelli and producer Edward Halperin returned.[85] In the film, Lugosi's hypnotic eyes from White Zombie could be seen in the opening montage.[86] 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."[87]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.[88][89]
Legendre reappeared later in various stories associated with Prowler.[91]
The heavy metal band White Zombie took 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."[92] In 1997, the Janus company released a model kit based on the Murder Legendre character.[92]
In 2009, it was announced that Tobe Hooper would direct a remake of White Zombie.[93] Jared Rivet wrote the screenplay for Hooper's remake but the project never came to fruition.[93][94]
In 2013–2014, there was a low budgetshort film remake of White Zombie released by YouTube Channel RagnBone and starring Scarlett Sheppard, Isaac Eastwood and Heather Hepburn as a character based on Legendre.[95]
The character, who, according to Mark Clark in his books about acting in horror cinema, remains "endlessly fascinating",[96] is also central to a 2017 novel prequel to the film: Memoirs of Murder: A Prequel to the 1932 Classic, White Zombie by Brad A. Braddock, that contains a fictional "personal diary of Murder Legendre himself".[97][third-party source needed]
There was also originally going to be a remake of White Zombie in 2018 by Blumhouse Productions under the leadership of Jason Blum but it is unknown whether those plans are coming in the future or not.[98]
StarAce toys made a 1/6 inch toy model and figure of Murder Legendre based on Bela Lugosi's likeness, which comes equipped with his raven.[99] Other figures representing Legendre have been issued.[100]
In 2023, Rob Zombie and Waxwork Records collaborated to release the original soundtrack of White Zombie on vinyl record, as the first release in a "Rob Zombie Presents" line of horror film soundtracks.[101][102] It was pressed on coloured vinyl and housed in special packaging featuring artwork by Graham Humphreys.[103]
Murder Legendre and other zombie sorcerers from the movies are characters in Frank J. Dello Stritto's 2023 novel Patron Saints of the Living Dead. A young man is called to the bedside of his dying father, and asked to find the father's father, the young man's grandfather. All that is known about him is that he is one of 13 "scientists" who came to the New World after World War I to delve in the secrets of creating zombies. In his search, the son encounters mad science and voodoo magic.[citation needed]
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, known professionally as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (1931), Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (1939) and his roles in many other horror films from 1931 through 1956.
Bride of the Monster is a 1955 American independent science fiction horror film, co-written, produced and directed by Edward D. Wood Jr., and starring Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson with a supporting cast featuring Tony McCoy and Loretta King.
Scared to Death is a 1947 American gothic thriller film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, Nat Pendleton and Molly Lamont. The picture was filmed in Cinecolor. The film is historically important as the only color film in which Bela Lugosi has a starring role. Lionel Atwill was originally slated to appear in the film, but he was too ill to work, so George Zucco replaced him in the cast. Christy Cabanne completed the film in early 1946, but it wasn't screened until 1947.
Bela Lugosi (1882–1956), best known for the original screen portrayal of Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1931, performed in many films during the course of his 39-year film career. He appeared in films made in his native Hungary, Germany and New York before re-locating to Hollywood in 1928. Films are listed in order of release.
Murders in the Rue Morgue is a 1932 American horror film directed by Robert Florey, based on Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The plot is about Doctor Mirakle, a carnival sideshow entertainer and scientist who kidnaps Parisian women to mix their blood with that of his gorilla, Erik. As his experiments fail because of the quality of his victims' blood, Mirakle meets with Camille L'Espanye, and has her kidnapped and her mother murdered, leading to suspicion falling on Camille's fiance, Pierre Dupin, a medical student who has already become interested in the earlier murders.
Victor Hugo Halperin was an American stage actor, stage director, film director, producer, and writer. The majority of his works involved romance and horror. His brother, with whom he collaborated, was producer Edward Halperin.
Revolt of the Zombies is a 1936 American horror film directed by Victor Halperin, produced by Edward Halperin, and stars Dean Jagger and Dorothy Stone. One of the earliest zombie films, it was initially conceived as a loose sequel to the director's moderately successful White Zombie (1932) but, due to a lawsuit, was unable to promote itself as such.
King of the Zombies is a 1941 American zombie comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury, and Mantan Moreland. The film was produced by Monogram Pictures, and was typical of its B films produced by the Pine-Thomas team. Along with flying scenes, the use of zany characters and slapstick efforts were juxtaposed with a spy and zombie story.
A zombie is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies are most commonly found in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magical practices in religions like Vodou. Modern media depictions of the reanimation of the dead often do not involve magic but rather science fictional methods such as fungi, radiation, gases, diseases, plants, bacteria, viruses, etc.
Az élet királya is a 1918 Hungarian film directed by Alfréd Deésy. It is an adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
The Silent Command is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards featuring Bela Lugosi as a foreign saboteur in his American film debut. The film, written by Anthony Paul Kelly and Rufus King, also stars Edmund Lowe, Alma Tell, and Martha Mansfield. Shot in New York, The Silent Command began Lugosi's career in the American film industry. The film's focus on his eyes, at times in extreme close-up, helped to establish his image for later roles.
The Dark Eyes of London is a 1939 British horror film produced by John Argyle and directed by Walter Summers, and starring Béla Lugosi, Hugh Williams, and Greta Gynt. The film is an adaptation of the 1924 novel of the same name by Edgar Wallace. The film is about a scientist named Dr. Orloff who commits a series of murders for insurance money, while periodically disguising himself as the blind manager of a charity to further his scheme.
Voodoo Man is a 1944 American horror film directed by William Beaudine, and starring Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and George Zucco.
Mother Riley Meets the Vampire is a 1952 British horror comedy film directed by John Gilling, starring Arthur Lucan and Bela Lugosi. It was filmed at Nettlefold Studios.
Gary Don Rhodes is an American writer, filmmaker, and film historian. His work encompasses research on early 20th-century films and key figures, including the filmmakers and actors involved in the process. Rhodes is notably recognised for his contribution to classic horror films and his biographical works on Bela Lugosi. In addition to his academic pursuits, he has also created documentaries and mockumentaries. Rhodes holds a tenured faculty position in film studies at Queen's University Belfast.
Ouanga, also advertised as The Love Wanga, is a voodoo-themed 1936 American film starring Fredi Washington. George Terwilliger wrote and directed the film. The film's themes include miscegenation and it features various racial stereotypes and portrays the people who practice voodoo as primitive. The movie is considered to be perhaps the second zombie film ever made after White Zombie.
The history of horror films was described by author Siegbert Solomon Prawer as difficult to read as a linear historical path, with the genre changing throughout the decades, based on the state of cinema, audience tastes and contemporary world events.
Popular culture has included various depictions of practices associated with different forms of voodoo, including Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo, and other elements attributed to African diaspora religions, with such representations often deviating substantially from any actual voodoo practices or beliefs. Tropes regarding voodoo appear most often in supernatural fantasy or horror films, with common themes including the activity of witch doctors, the summoning or control of dark spirits, use of voodoo dolls to inflict pain on people remotely, and the creation of zombies.
The Magic Island is a book by American explorer and traveler William Seabrook. First published in 1929 by Harcourt, Brace & Company, The Magic Island is an account of Seabrook's experiences with Haitian Vodou in Haiti, and is considered the first popular English-language work to describe the concept of a zombie, defined by Seabrook as "a soulless human corpse, still dead, but taken from the grave and endowed by sorcery with a mechanical semblance of life—it is a dead body which is made to walk and act and move as if it were alive."
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