White Zombie

"Stranger things are happening than you ever dreamed of!"

1932 1h 7m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 290

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A wealthy landowner living in Haiti convinces a sorcerer to lure the woman he has fallen for away from her fiancé. The madman later betrays their agreement by keeping the woman for himself…as a zombie.

“Stranger things are happening than you ever dreamed of!”

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Cast

Bela Lugosi
Legendre
Madge Bellamy
Madeleine Short Parker
John Harron
Neil Parker
Robert Frazer
Charles Beaumont
Joseph Cawthorn
Dr. Bruner
Frederick Peters
Chauvin, a zombie
George Burr Macannan
Von Gelder, a zombie
Brandon Hurst
Silver

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Victor Halperin
Writers: Garnett Weston
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 67-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

94 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Victor Halperin, shot by Arthur Martinelli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Harold McLernon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bela Lugosi and Madge Bellamy and John Harron carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Stranger things are happening than you ever dreamed of!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0023694 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Victor Halperin directs. Arthur Martinelli behind the camera. Harold McLernon cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 67-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
394 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Victor Halperin, shot by Arthur Martinelli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Harold McLernon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Bela Lugosi and Madge Bellamy and John Harron carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Stranger things are happening than you ever dreamed of!".
8IMDB entry: tt0023694 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 15 themes, including "voodoo", "plantation", "haiti", "zombie".
10Released under 22 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Arthur Martinelli
Editing: Harold McLernon
Makeup / hair: Jack Pierce
Runtime: 67 min · 1h 7m
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: White Zombie (1932)

Also by

Victor Halperin

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-13
★ 6/10
This is quite a decent little Zombie mystery with a wonderfully evocative opening few scenes as the couple drive to the eerie plantation home of "Beaumont" (Robert Frazer). Now I'm sure Haiti would be a beautiful place to marry in 2020, but back in the 1930s it was an island awash with voodoo and coffin lids that go bump in the night, so when "Beaumont" takes a shine to Madge Bellamy "Madeline" he turns to the local witch doctor "Legendre" (Lugosi) to help him lure her away from her dashing fiancée "Neil" (John Harron). It's got all the usual flaws: (really) poor writing; Bellamy is as theatrical as she can possibly be, but Lugosi is much less like a dodgy Austrian Archduke and the paucity of lighting actually helps to create a suspenseful atmosphere. It's certainly at the better end of the scale for these cheap and cheerful horror stories and well worth an hour of your time, late at night, after a wee cognac or three...
hand2a2025-01-16
★ 4/10
The first on-screen use of the word 'zombie'! A must watch if you are interested in the history of the horror genre, and although it is interesting, it's not the most entertaining. Robert Frazer was good as Beaumont and Lugosi was great as always, also has some nice matte painting work, but other than the historical significance, it's a pretty bog-standard early B-movie. 2/5

Production companies

Who made it

VI
Victor & Edward Halperin Productions

Key crew

NovelWilliam Seabrook
ProducerPhil Goldstone
Art DirectionRalph Berger
ProducerEdward Halperin
EditorHarold McLernon
Assistant CameraEnzo A. Martinelli
Assistant CameraCharles Bohny
Camera OperatorJockey Arthur Feindel
Set DresserConrad Tritschler
Assistant DirectorWilliam Cody
Special EffectsHoward A. Anderson
DialogueGarnett Weston
CinematographyArthur Martinelli
OtherHerbert Farjeon
Makeup ArtistJack Pierce
OtherSidney Marcus
Assistant DirectorHerbert Glazer
Makeup ArtistCarl Axcelle
MusicGuy Bevier Wlliams
Sound EngineerL.E. Clark

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

voodoo
plantation
haiti
zombie
black and white
newlywed
pre-code
poverty row
woman in peril
grim
telepathic mind control
vulture
independent film
melodrama
zombie maker

Release history · US

When it landed

Theatrical (limited)1932-07-28
Theatrical1932-08-04
Physical1985-07-11NR· United American Video Corporation (UAV) #1025 [VHS] 74 minutes
TV1949-07-02· New York, premiere

Also known as