B&W, 1932, 67 mins. Directed by Victor Halperin
Starring Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn, John Harron, Robert Frazer / Produced by Edward Halperin / Written by Garnett Weston
Format: DVD - Roan (MSRP $24.95)
While Universal and MGM were cranking out high profile horror titles in the wake of Dracula and Frankenstein back in the '30s, another strain of American horror films arose, commonly called "poverty row horrors." Formerly relegated to the darkest regions of fanzine appreciation, these films often used imagination to compensate for a lack of money, and White Zombie has justifiably been celebrated as the Citizen Kane of this peculiar and often fascinating subgenre.
Madeleine (Bellamy) and Neil (Harron), a young engaged couple visiting Haiti, are startled on a noctural carriage ride by the presence of shuffling workers who seem oblivious to their surroundings. Their local host (Cawthorn) greets them warmly but, it seems, is secretly infatuated with Madeleine and wants her for himself. He seeks th eaid of sinister mill owner Murder Legendre (played by Lugosi of course - don't ya love that name?). It seems Murder is actually a voodoo master (yep, folks, this is the screen's first zombie movie) who uses the undead as slaves in his mill. Thanks to a few handy spells, he induces Madeleine into a state resembling death, then steals her "corpse" for his own private enjoyment (the viewer is left to fill in the blanks, but this seems to consist mostly of letting her roam around Murder's castle and play Liszt on the piano all day long). Of course, Neil is none too amused and decides to infiltrate Murder's imposing fortress, leading to a surprisingly rousing and poetic finale.
Rich with bizarre, beautiful imagery, White Zombie has been grabbing the attention of late night TV viewers for years despite its scrappy production and distribution history. Decent prints have been impossible to find, but the Roan Group with the aid of Sinister Cinema managed to piece together the finest extant materials to create a beautiful composite print originally released to great fan acclaim on laserdisc. B&W, 1932, 63 mins. Directed by Irving Pichel & Ernest B. Schoedsack
Starring Joel McCrea, Leslie Banks, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Noble Johnson, Steve Clemente / Produced by Merian C. Cooper & David O. Selznick / Written by James Ashmore Creelman / Music by Max Steiner / Cinematography by Henry W. Gerrard
Format: DVD - Criterion (MSRP $24.95)
If you ever read the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" back in high school, you'll already be familiar with this film's basic premise: a wealthy madman who owns a remote island uses shipwreck survivors who wash up on his shores as prey in an elaborate human hunt for his own amusement. However, while this brief O. Henry-style sketch left the gruesome details of the action to the readers' imaginations, the film necessarily embellishes this sinister premise with new characters and a long, memorable hunt sequence in which the deranged Count Zaroff stalks his prey with bow and arrow. Long remembered primarily as a precursor to RKO's King Kong ( which featured most of the same cast, sets, and crew, not to mention very similar camera setups), The Most Dangerous Game has increasingly come into its own as a landmark horror and action title which holds up today as an exciting piece of entertainment.
Originally released at a running time approximated by most scholars around 76 minutes, this film was pared down to a speedy 63 minutes and moves like a bullet. The infamous shots of mounted severed heads and bloody shark attacks were trimmed or altered from many reissue versions and most video editions but remain intact here. The Roan Group issued a fine restored edition of The Most Dangerous Game in 1995, but the DVD version from Criterion is, amazingly, even better. The source materials are far closer to mint than have ever been seen before; the detail throughout is extraordinary, and the source materials are much cleaner (even the shark attack footage looks good!). Devoid of the visual and sonic damage which has harmed it over the years, this Game packs a punch now more than ever and, at a surprisingly low price for Criterion, is quite a steal. While the packaging is disappointingly bland (the Roan version easily beats it in this respect), the disc does boast an interesting running commentary by film scholar ---. The LD also included a different commentary track by ----, which consisted primarily of historical information, while the DVD commentary balances history with critical observation and is generally more fast-moving and suitable for a return visit. The LD also included snippets from Willis O'Brien's Creation and trailers for King Kong and Mighty Joe Young, extras which are noticeably absent here. However, at the lower price tag, it's obvious which one will be more appealing to consumers. Don't pass this one up.
The DVD looks even better, with further dirt removal and scratch repair; likewise, the transfer contains deeper blacks and more minute detail, particularly valuable when studying the film's striking sets and matte paintings. Strangely, the Halperins never really hit paydirt like this again; even their sequel, Revolt of the Zombies, lacks the inventive spark which has made this a classic. While most of the performances are generally cardboard at best, Lugosi (famous for making only $800 from this one!) has a field day and delivers one of his most memoerable characterizations. His "hypnotic" eyes, used to famous effect in Tod Browning's Dracula, are once again utilized prominently here from the very first scene, but the other recurring images are far more compelling. The sequences involving the zombified Madeleine are particular visual highlights (she's not the world's greatest actress during the opening, so this is quite a relief), and the eerie shots of the zombie mill workers prove exactly why black and white photography was invented in the first place. While the laserdisc contained better packaging (including original press kit materials), the DVD boasts several new supplements. The most interesting, "Intimate Interviews," is a truly bizarre '30s promotional piece featuring a dimwitted blonde journalist asking Lugosi inane questions about his career in "mystery films." Lugosi describes himself as a "lone wolf," explains his political asylum status to the blank-faced reporter, and eventually scares her off by staring off into space and intoning, "I'm coming." Thoroughly odd. Other bonuses include the 1952 sepia tone reissue trailer and (very soft) running audio commentary.
While the extra footage will probably never be found, what remains is quite powerful as Joel McCrea and a dark-haired Fay Wray are sent into the jungle by Zaroff (Leslie Banks, a very effective classic villain) with a few hours' head start to make his game interesting. Packed with startling images (hard to believe this was done on a set!) and some truly kinky touches along the way, this film has been imitated countless times over the years, most recently in its unofficial remake as John Woo's Hard Target. Max Steiner does an interesting dry run for his King Kong score here, mostly playing around with atmospheric tribal sounds and swirling action cues, and Wray still makes for a fetching heroine.
