The White Zombie

Movie
German title	The White Zombie
Original title	White zombie
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1932
length	69 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Victor Halperin
script	Garnett Weston
production	Edward Halperin
music	H. Herkan H. Maurice Jacquet Nathaniel Dett Gaston Borch Leo Kempenski Hugo Riesenfeld Guy Bevier Williams Xavier Cugat
camera	Arthur Martinelli
cut	Harold McLernon
occupation
Bela Lugosi : Legendre Madge Bellamy : Madeleine Short Robert Frazer : Charles Beaumont Joseph Cawthorn : Dr. Bruner Brandon Hurst : Silver Clarence Muse : Coachman John Harron : Neil Parker George Burr Macannan : Of funds Frederick Peters : Chauvien Annette Stone : Girls John T. Prince : Ledot Dan Crimmins : Pierre, doctor Claude Morgan : Zombie John Fergusson : Zombie Velma Gresham : girls

The White Zombie (Original title: White Zombie ) is a horror film by Victor Halperin from 1932 . It is the first film that combines the theme of the revenants or undead with a plot.

action

Madeleine and Neil want to get married on their friend Beaumont's estate in Haiti. Beaumont did not give the invitation selflessly, however: he is in love with Madeleine and wants to own her completely. The owner of a nearby sugar mill named Legendre turns Madeleine into a zombie at Beaumont's request. The mill owner has experience in these matters, a whole bunch of these undead slaves have to work for him. The groom and a missionary set out to save his unwilling fiancée.

background

The film uses split-screen displays at the end of the film and introduced the point-of-view shot into the horror film genre .

Reviews

• The lexicon of international films writes: "After years of oblivion, a genre film that was later elevated to a classic of the horror film of the 30s, which condenses its atmosphere into a poetic horror fairy tale and offers pure surrealism in its best moments."

• The eyes are the leitmotif of the film, writes Ekkehard Knörer in Jump Cut Magazine : at the beginning Legendre's piercing eyes, then the dead eyes of the zombies, followed by the attempt to revive Madeleine's eyes. The camera adopts the POV perspective to make this clear, while at the same time creating a critical, reflective distance from the filmic representation.

Others

The band White Zombie chose their name as a tribute to the film.

The American metal guitarist Kirk Hammett ( Metallica ) has a signature model from the guitar brand ESP , which shows the poster of the film on the body.

literature

• William K. Everson : Classics of Horror Movies. (OT: Classics of the Horror Film , Citadel Film Books ). Goldmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-442-10205-7 , pp. 92-95.

Web links

Commons : White Zombie (film)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• White Zombie in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• White Zombie in the online movie database
• The film can be downloaded from the Internet Archive

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The White Zombie. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .  
2. ↑ jump-cut.de