White Zombie at Midnight

 

I just finished my write-up for Season of the Witch (1973) Wednesday night and was sort of going over an upcoming "Favorite films of the 30s" list for the blog, with posts dedicated also to single years much like my previous 1931 post not too long ago. I've been hung up on 1932 because of movies on the list I wanted to go back over again and revisit. I had not intention of revisiting White Zombie (1932) specifically at Midnight but I had been wanting to rewatch the Lugosi classic, so it felt right. And I'm glad I did. There are times when White Zombie just doesn't seem to captivate me. It could be what many classic film detractors hold against these movies from the "golden age" from the 30s - 60s...pace wasn't an issue and a short running time might feel a lot longer. Scenes don't feel rushed. Lugosi could have a ton of time on screen to build a sinister expression. This guy makes grabbing a wine glass with slithery fingers that seem like octopus tentacles sinister. If I'm Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer) and Murder Legendre is handing me a glass of wine, no damn way I'm even taking a sip. Never is there a smile On Legendre's face that doesn't have malicious intent. He's quite methodical in every facial tic, with his words, that particular inflection. Legendre has the undead working sugar cane for a very medieval kind of machinery -- one of the workers walks right into the spinning-wheel grinder and the others continue as if nothing happens! -- and a particular few that forms an entourage he orders around to do his bidding. This entourage he tells Beaumont were particular people who opposed Legendre, were adversaries he now has under his control out of revenge. Beaumont going to Legendre, who openly practices voodoo and is notorious for causing those once dead to rise and listen to him, for anything seems dangerous...and proves dangerous!

This definitely looks like a Universal set

Great exterior "shot" of the castle overlooking the water

Madeline (Madge Bellamy) on the balcony

Worst guy to share a drink with!

Dead eyes Madeline, emptied mind by Legendre

I just decided to include all the images of the film from moments/scenes of the film that held my attention like Sammy Michaels (Peter Bogdanovich) drawn completely to Byron Orlock's (Karloff) sequence in "The Criminal Code" (1930)😨. All of that was contributed to Lugosi and just the setting. The quality of the print available on Shudder wasn't the greatest but this was the first time I got to watch White Zombie with captions. It was worth it. And the idea to watch the film in the dead of night...just the right vibes.

Precode Madeline without a dress in underwear

I really wish there was more information on this film. That actually goes with a lot of these horror films. The "fly on the wall" as the production was underway, its setbacks, how they secured sets and such. Lugosi from 1931 until 1935 is at his absolute best. Well, many of his fans think his best work is actually in 1939 with Son of Frankenstein, but I think prime Lugosi is right here in White Zombie. If anything, White Zombie plays on Lugosi's powerful magnetism from Dracula just a year before, capitalizing on his popularity. Lugosi's mistake with pay just haunted him throughout his life. This guy, regardless of how horror films were sneered at, should have been worth way more than he ultimately was at the end of his life. Granted, not everyone is or was high on Lugosi's acting style, way of talking, and presence as I am, but the fact that after Dracula (1931) he couldn't have been paid way more for White Zombie seems, in retrospect, to be such a calculated error on his part. He dominates this film, so overpowering, the remaining cast just serve as pawns in Legendre's game. The Halperins sure knew what they had, so lots of Lugosi in their film made sense. 

😨 Reference to the film, Targets (1968), directed by Bogdanovich at the end of Karloff's life. It was wonderful to know Karloff had the chance to see the finished product and know that his legacy was beautiful intact. I like to look at Targets as the legit final film of Karloff's career. It was certainly one of the best Karloff ever made in his long, storied career.