White Zombie

Among tribal drums, natives are filling in a grave with shovels as the opening credits begin. Among strong accenting drum beats, the letters dramatically appear to spell “Zombie” beneath the stationary “White.” Then chants enter as the credits continue.

A two-horse-drawn coach rides into the dark, accented by background lights. A smiling, happy couple sits inside, listening to the tribal drums and chanting. The coachman (Clarence Muse) comes upon people filling in the grave, and he’s quite terrified. The young couple queries that there’s a funeral on the road. The driver tells the couple that they are afraid of people who steal bodies, so they bury the corpse in the middle of the road. The young couple, Neil (John Harron) and Madeline (Madge Bellamy), watch as the coach carefully maneuvers across the grave. Neil smiles and utters, “There’s a cheerful introduction for you to our West Indies,” as the coach rocks back and forth. The coach rides on as a pair of transparent eyes superimpose themselves across the screen. As the coach drives on, they come upon a mysterious figure dressed in a hat and a long cape, Murder Legendre (Bela Lugosi). The driver asks the man for instructions, and Legendre gazes inside the carriage, his eyes transfixed and terrifying. Then, a group of animalistic men approaches, and the driver goes wide-eyed, yelling, “Zombies!” Then he clicks the horse’s reins, taking off into the night. The mysterious man, not saying a word, steals Madeline’s white scarf as the coach drives away. Exiting, the couple notices an old graveyard, and the Murder smiles, putting the scarf inside his coat.

Finally, the coach pulls up to a luxurious inn. Neil, angered, asks the driver, “Why did you drive like that, you fool? We might have been killed!” The driver slowly replies, “Worse than that, we could have been caught ... they are not men; they are dead bodies—zombies! The living dead—corpses taken from their graves, made to work, Sugarmill fields at night.” The driver sees such men approaching over the hills and scatters in his coach alone. Another guest at the hotel approaches the couple, asking for a match. The older man smiles and asks if he’s frightened the couple. The man invites them inside the house. He asks the servant Silver (Brandon Hurst) if this is the Beaumont Inn, and the servant says, “You’re expected, Dr. Bruner” (Joseph Cawthorn). Bruner claims he has only met Beaumont once or twice. He’s suspicious of the man and advises Neil and Madeline to leave the inn as soon as they are married. Neil also admits he only met Mr. Beaumont in Port-au-Prince, where he was convinced to marry at his inn.

Silver announces the three guests to Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer), and he tells the servant to see them to their rooms. However, he then reconsiders because it might seem strange if he didn't greet his new guests. Silver advises Beaumont, “that man” will cause trouble for him, and what he’s planning “is dangerous.” Beaumont replies, “Don’t you suppose I know that, Silver? You don’t seem to realize what this girl means to me. I would sacrifice anything in the world for her. Nothing matters if I can’t have her.” Beaumont then rushes into the room to warmly greet Madeline, initially ignoring the others. After greeting all three, Beaumont speaks to Madeline again, telling her he regrets not being able to do everything he wanted for her. Neil looks on disapprovingly. Silver is then told to show the guests to their rooms. As the guests go up the staircase, there’s loud knocking at the front door. Neil mills around his room with nervous energy, looking outside of the balcony to see a zombie in a horse-drawn carriage stop to pick Beaumont up.

Then we observe the mechanics of Legendre’s operation, with zombies moving through the mill and observing everything systematically. They wear baskets on their heads and move as methodically as ants. Beaumont is brought to this building to meet Legendre. The zombies drop the contents of their baskets into a pit with revolving blades. One unfortunate zombie falls into this mechanism, being ground alive as the dutiful servants walk around, turning the blades. The lead zombie guides Beaumont onward. The only sounds are loud squawks and the churning of wood.

Beaumont is taken to see Legendre. Legendre cordially greets Beaumont and extends his hand to shake, but when this gesture is not reciprocated, he coils his hand into a fist, tightening it more and more. Then Legendre’s face forms a smile as he greets his guest. Legendre says to Beaumont, “I’m sorry I kept you waiting. I am Murder Legendre. These are the men for my mill. They work faithfully and are not concerned about long hours. You could make good use of men like mine on your plantation.” But Beaumont interrupts, “No. It's not what I want.” “Then perhaps you wish to talk about the young lady who came to your house this evening.” Beaumont is surprised that Murder has seen her. And Murder pulls out the white scarf he stole from her. Beaumont pleads, “They’re to be married tonight. You waited too long to do anything.” Legendre asks what he wants from him. Beaumont continues, “If she were to disappear for a month.” Legendre smiles and says, “What do you hope to gain from her disappearance? Do you think she will forget her lover in a month? Not in a month; not even a year!” Delusional, Beaumont thinks he can win her heart in only one month.

He pleads that there must be a way! Legendre slowly stands, staring intently at Beaumont. “There … is … a … way.” Beaumont states that if he helps him, he can ask for anything. Looking at a stoic zombie standing nearby, Legendre whispers in Beaumont’s ear. Beaumont suddenly looks out of sorts, “No, not that!” Legendre waves his hand to signify it’s not a big deal and walks to a side counter. From a drawer, Legendre produces a small box containing a vial. Wild-eyed and excited, Legendre states, “Only a pinpoint … in a glass of wine or perhaps a flower.” Murder hands him the vial, but at first he refuses it. “Keep it, monsieur. Keep it! You may change your mind,” he demands, staring harshly into his eyes. “Send me word when you use it.” Starting to leave, Beaumont states that he’ll find another way. Legendre stands erect and bellows, “There is no other way!”

Madeline is dressing for the wedding while tribal drums are building in intensity outside. She demands that one of the maids close the door. This transforms to a man playing the organ, The Wedding March. Beaumont walks the bride down the stairs, professing his undying love to her on every step. Seconds away from her marriage, he wants her to run off with him to Port-au-Prince. Beaumont, seemingly giving up on Madeline, says he has one last gift before they part forever. Beaumont returns with a flower, which he hands to her. She smells it, then puts it in her wedding bouquet and smiles. Then he walks the bride to her groom, music continuing to play. Bruner officiates the service, and Beaumont looks on suspiciously.

That evening, after the ceremony, Legendre takes out Madeline’s scarf and wraps it around a white candle. He then takes out a knife and starts carving the candle. A vulture perched on a chimney squawks loudly, sounding like a woman screaming. Murder finishes his sculpture, carving out a naked woman. Inside the inn, Beaumont and the newly married couple are being served a lavish dinner. Beaumont stands and offers a toast to the bride, and Neil also stands, handing his glass to Madeline. When Madeline is asked what she sees in the glass by Neil, she stares into the glass and sees the terrifying face of Murder Legendre. Madeline looks to be in shock and says, “I see death!” Standing already, she looks and stares, appearing worried. At the same time, Legendre is taking his wax figure and placing it in a lamp post to burn. Madeline, looking terrified, falls back and passes out. Legendre is still burning his wax figure in the fire, smiling. Madeline’s eyes close as she becomes more comatose, and the screen slightly darkens. In a dramatic shot, the body of Legendre walks directly up to the camera, accompanied by dramatic music.

Madeline is being buried as attendants carry her casket, and Beaumont and Neil follow closely behind. The priest says prayers as the coffin is moved to the crypt for burial. The men are very somber.

Neil sits in an island bar with three bottles of liquor on his table. The silhouettes of people dancing are in the background. Seeing an image of Madeline, Neil sinks inward, curling up in front of the bottles of liquor. He puts his hands to his head, stands, and walks away, knocking over a chair in the process. He then tries to embrace an image of Madeline and finally emerges from the huddle as a broken man.

We then see the figures of Beaumont and Legendre in a hillside graveyard. Wolves howl in the background. Zombies stand motionless at the edge of the graveyard as Beaumont declares, “Zombies!” Legendre replies, “Yes, those are my servants. Do you think I’d live here alone?” He talks about a witch doctor, once his master, whom he tortured for secrets about reviving the dead. Then he introduces each of the zombies to Beaumont. Afterwards, Murder claps his hands together, and the zombies open a side entrance to the mausoleum where Madeline is buried. Zombies take Madeline’s casket out of the vault, propping it on the stone stairs.

Opening the casket lid, Madeline’s corpse is still beautiful, and Beaumont stares longingly at her, while the grief-stricken Neil is still wandering, calls out her name. But now he is in earshot of the mausoleum, and Madeline’s casket is quickly taken outside, zombies carrying her casket out of the graveyard. Just after they leave, Neil comes upon the open mausoleum door. After much hesitation, he slowly enters. And a haunting scream echoes from inside as he finds the casket missing.

“There are two explanations that might be: either the body was stolen by members of a death cult that uses human bones for their ceremony, or else she’s not dead,” Bruner says. Beaumont acts surprised by the second explanation, saying he saw her die, a doctor signed the death certificate, and he saw her buried. “I’ve lived in these islands for many years. And I’ve seen things with my eyes that made me think I was crazy. There are superstitions in Haiti that the natives brought here from Africa. Some of them can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt and beyond that, to countries that were yet to be explored when Egypt was young. Yet I explain. … there are superstitions … do you remember what your driver told you the night he took you to Beaumont’s house?” Beaumont remembers, “About those horrible creatures we saw. He said they were corpses coming out of their graves.” Bruner reminds him that’s the superstition. Neil spudders, “Do you mean Madeline was murdered so that somebody could steal her dead body? Ah, nonsense!” Bruner, “Her body, yes, but not her dead body.” Neil says, “Surely you don’t think she’s alive, in the hands of natives. Oh, no, you don’t believe that, do you?” Bruner emphasizes, “There have been lots of people who have been pronounced dead who came alive again and lived for years … Your driver believed he saw dead men walking. He didn’t. What he saw were men alive in everything but this and this [pointing to his head and heart] … I’ve been trying for years to get to the bottom of this thing. To separate facts from fiction,”

Bruner reads from a Haitian law book saying that drugs used to produce a comatose state shall be considered attempted murder; if the person has been buried alive, the act can be considered murder. Neil suddenly thinks of Beaumont, and he wonders if he could have done this. Bruner believes a native citizen was responsible for this. “Before we get through with this thing, we may uncover sins that even the Devil would be ashamed of,” Bruner shares.

Next, we see a castle carved out of the seaside cliffs, set against a panoramic, eerie sky background. We see inside the magnificent structure standing overlooking the restless sea. Inside the castle is a main room with enormous pillars and high glass windows, accented by a staircase and a piano in the center, with Madeline playing. Beaumont sits, listening to Madeline play, while seated in an ornate chair. He stands and approaches Madeline, who is staring blankly ahead. What spirit of life the piano playing displays is evaporated from Madeline’s soulless face. Beaumont approaches her and offers her jewelry, but she remains vacant and fails to recognize anyone. He goes behind her and places the necklace on her neck. As she continues to play expressively. “These things cannot bring life back to those eyes … I was mad to do this. If you’ll smile for me … But the soul is gone … I can’t bear those empty, staring eyes … forgive me, Madeline, forgive me! I can’t bear it any longer. I must have you back!”

Legendre descends the staircase slowly. Beaumont pleads, “You must put the life back into her eyes. And bring a laugh to her lips!” Murder utters, “You paint a charming picture, Monsieur. One that I would like to see myself in. Once Legendre reaches the bottom of the stairs, Madeline approaches him, still zombie-fied. Beaumont pleads, You must bring her back.” Murder lets go of Madeline, and a chiseled look of power is ingrained on his face. “Better to see hatred in them than that dreaded emptiness,” Beaumont says. Legendre joyfully declares, Let’s drink to our future, " clapping his hands as Silver enters. “Bring wine, Silver!” Beaumont drinks to the toast, realizing his drink was probably drugged. Legendre says, Only a pinpoint, Monsieur, a flower, or perhaps a glass of wine.” Beaumont, looking shocked, smashes his glass. Legendre, half smiling and looking intense, says, “I have other plans for Mademoiselle, I’m afraid you might not agree! Beaumont calls out to Silver for help. He threatens to hit Murder with a metal tray, but one intense glare from Murder has him fall back in line. Several zombies enter the room and forcibly carry Silver up the stairs. We soon hear a violent scream from up above as the zombies dump Silver’s body into the sea. Legendre sinisterly smiles and toasts to the future. Outside, a vulture squawks several times. As Murder stands stoically, hands clasped, Beaumont pleads, “Not that !”

In the dense jungle, Bruner and Neil ride horses amid a backdrop of rhythmic drumming. Bruner tries to connect with a witch doctor friend of his. Soon, the witch doctor, Pierre (Dan Crrimmins), approaches on horseback. The native is scared for his life and advises Bruner to turn back. But Bruner has already traveled so far. Pierre warns of the mountains and an evil man named Murder. Soon, the duo of Bruner and Neil reaches the mountain castle. Startling the men, the vulture appears on a limb, squawking. Bruner throws a rock and hits the bird. Neil, physically ill and weak, forces Bruner to go on alone.

Madeline strolls outside on the balcony, and Neil sits up, smiling, feeling her presence. He calls out her name as he walks onward. Neil, just as Bruner before him, ventures nearer the castle. Madeline sits at a makeup table as maids are ready to comb her hair, showing fear of touching her. Madeline turns to the side, and Neil slowly approaches. Madeline goes back out on the balcony as Neil gets closer and closer.

In the main castle room, Legendre approaches Beaumont, who sits in a chair, twitches, and gazes blankly. Murder sits next to Neil at a table, “Can you still hear me? It is unfortunate that you are no longer able to speak. I shall be interested in you trying to describe your symptoms.” Murder again craves a wax figure of a woman with his knife. “You see, you are the first man to know what is happening. None of the others did. You refused to shake hands once. I remember. We understand each other better, now. Neil, half staggering, enters the castle, still looking for his wife. Neil observes swirling sea water below and ventures on. Soon, arriving at the top of the staircase in the main castle room. Legendre senses his presence, but Neil falls unconscious on a sofa at the top of the stairway. Murder looks very concerned and ascends the stairs, where he finds Neil unconscious and breathing heavily.

We cut to Madeline lying fully clothed on her bed. Zombie-like, she sits up, getting out of bed, sensing something. She exits her room, retracing Neil’s passage through the castle. She soon approaches Legendre and Beaumont, two individuals caught in the vicious web of soulless existence. She grabs Murder’s knife from the table and approaches the staircase. Madeline approaches Neil, looking as though she is ready to stab him. Murder once again clenches his fingers together. She is about to stab Neil, but changes her mind, an extreme close-up of Murder and his lighted eyes appearing to egg her on. Suddenly, a cloaked figure reaches out to grab the knife away from her, Murder still clenching his hands together. Madeline descends the staircase as Neil awakens, Murder still straining with his clenched fingers, and Beaumont straining to exit his zombie-like state. As Madeline darts across the room, Neil clearly sees her and calls out her name. Madeline exits the seaside castle, growing nearer to the rocky cliff’s edge, still zombie-fied.

Neil approaches, pulling her further back from the cliff's edge. As Neil tries to talk her out of her comatose state, Murder approaches. “Oh my darling, what have they done to you?” Murder assumes a transfixing stare and again clutches his hands together. Zombies approach from the stairs behind Murder. As Neil questions Murder, more zombies approach from all sides. Neil uses a pistol to shoot the zombies, but it has no effect. Neil stands inches before the edge of the cliff, firing away uselessly as zombies approach. Bruner approaches Murder from behind, wearing a ceremonial robe, using a heavy object to hit Murder over the head, knocking him senseless. As Neil pulls out of his dangerous space, encouraged by Bruner, the zombies commit suicide one by one, jumping off the cliff.

Madeline slowly regains her animated personality. As Murder lies unconscious, as light increases behind her, Madeline’s eyes again hold life as she smiles at Neil. As she gently strokes Neil’s face, Murder awakens, and Madeline sinks back into a trance. Murder attempts to escape using the staircase, throwing some kind of poisoning powder down below. As the men and women below choke in the vapors, Murder clutches his fingers and assumes an intense stare, as Beaumont approaches from behind him on the staircase. Beaumont uses the element of surprise, flinging Murder into the sea below, Legendre screaming all the way down. Beaumont soon joins him, hurling his body into the sea. Neil approaches Madeline, who is emerging from her trance, her body glowing brighter as her smile and personality return. The end credits come up as Bruner asks for a match, a running gag throughout the movie.

White Zombie has been cited as extremely boring, but I find it an early horror classic (it was filmed only a year after Universal’s Dracula and the same year as Universal’s Frankenstein). It was an independent film produced by the Halperin Brothers and also directed by Victor Halperin. While it is creakier than all the early Universal horror classics, it contains a rather eerie musical score and many special effects to curdle the blood. When Madeline is released from her trance, the background scenery around her grows lighter. We hear the squawks of a vulture, approximating the sound of a person screaming. We have many superimpositions of Bela Lugosi’s intense eyes dominating the screen. We have the doom-laden mood of jungle drums beating.

However, Bela Lugosi’s performance as Murder Legendre dominates. Universal said Lugosi, who didn’t speak English effectively, had to learn his lines for Dracula phonetically. But only one year later, his nuance of dialogue is surprisingly more mature. His contortion of facial expressions is all over the place, from his broad, sinister smiles to his intense, hypnotic stares. And in between, we have insane, outlandish expressions. His dialogue is pure Lugosi, but the subtlety in using the language has grown substantially over the past year. The makeup of his character, his facial expressions, and his use of language all coalesce to produce one of the best performances of his career. Without hesitation, I would say that his three best screen performances are Count Dracula, Ygor, and Murder Legendre.

Even in 1932, the set decoration was outlandishly brilliant. We have the high two-story ceilings that early Universal pictures contained; the perch of the vulture; Murder craving the candle; the main castle room with ornate furniture, high staircase, piano, pillars, intricate glass windows, a castle chiseled from rock, panoramic background canvases painted with mood; the internal staircases of the inner castle; the squeaking mill of the plantation worked by zombies; and coach rides through eerily lit forests. For its time, the movie was exceptional in execution and created a new type of cinema experience.

True, the acting was creaky and overblown, except for Lugosi, of course, but the musical score was more developed than other horror films of the time. White Zombie was one of a kind, a low-budget film that more than succeeded by virtue of its creative vision and vivid imagination. Bela Lugosi submitted a characterization for the ages and proved that, while his acting was quirky, it was nonetheless a masterclass performance.

THE MAIN ROOM IN THE CASTLE, FEATURING A PROMOTIONAL SHOT OF THE ASSEMBLED CAST.

MADELINE WITH A KNIFE ( MADGE BELLAMY), MURDER LEGENDRE (BELA LUGOSI), AND BEAUMONT (ROBERT FRAZER)