White Zombie film: Encyclopedia - White Zombie film

White Zombie (film)

White Zombie is an American horror film, first released on August 4, 1932. It is believed to be the first film to deal with zombies.

The film was produced independently by Edward and Victor Halperin, and directed by Victor Halperin, two minor silent film makers, from a script by Garnett Weston. It was picked up for distribution by United Artists.

The script by Garnett Weston features a young couple in Haiti, Neil Parker (John Harron) and Madeleine Short (Madge Bellamy), who have been invited by a casual acquaintance, Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer), to come to his plantation to be married. Beaumont, however, is actually in love with Madeline and hopes to persuade her to become his wife instead. Rebuffed, he approaches local white Voodoo master "Murder" Legendre (Bela Lugosi) to temporarily turn her into a zombie, have her declared dead, send Neil back to the States in mourning, then revive her so that he can woo her anew. Legendre, however, has his own plans for the young lady, and for Beaumont.

Sherman S. Krellberg financed most of the production of the film through his Amusement Securities Corp., using the film rights as collateral. When the Halperins were unable to repay the loan in a timely manner, Krellberg took over the rights and, after its initial run was finished, periodically reissued the film through minor distributors, the last time being in 1972.

The 1980s-1990s Groove metal band White Zombie picked its name as a tribute to the movie.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "White Zombie film", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki