Young lovers Madeline Short (Madge Bellamy) and Neil Parker (John Harron) arrive in Haiti for their wedding, arranged by wealthy plantation owner Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer). But Beaumont isn’t being helpful. He’s obsessed with Madeline and wants to steal her away. Failing to win her over with his charm, he settles on the mystical route of Murder Legendre (Bela Lugosi), who has the ability to convert humans into zombies.
The first zombie movie, White Zombie sits at the crossroads between talkies and silent pictures. The acting is stylized—flamboyant with a combination of stillness and wild waving about. There are pauses that would make William Shatner blush. The cinematography is simple, creating beautiful moments, but has little flow. The often static camera doesn’t help. The soundtrack is too quiet, with many pauses, but also with sudden bursts. Frankenstein seems as vital as it did in 1931; White Zombie is stogy and dated.
But those moments are enough: The tour of the mill, with the zombies mindlessly walking in circles; The zombies carrying the coffin; The enchanted Madeline having her hair combed, standing on the balcony of the castle, and descending the stairs. Together they may not do much, but separately, they are art.
The story starts solidly, and as long as you like your horror with a dose of melodramatic romance, isn’t too silly, but the ending is anticlimactic. The film is more about tone, and in that it is generally successful, as long as we are keeping to Lugosi and the zombies. The scenes with Parker and the priest are less successful and feel like they were pulled from a kids adventure serial.
In the hands of a more imaginative director, or with a plan to go more stylized into a near dream, perhaps White Zombie could have been the classic it was claimed to be when it was thought lost. If you are at all interested in cinema history, you need to see it. But for enjoyment, I suggest putting an animated gif of Madeline on the balcony in a video picture frame and choosing a more dynamic film to watch.