The Last Day

   So...we arrive at the end. Every end is a new beginning, no?
   I want to thank everyone who stopped by my posts, read them, commented, entered giveaways, shared, etc! Merci beaucoup.
   I've really enjoyed this blog hop but the horrifying, dribbling, and chilling terror of October is only half over! On Halloween my horror-comedy will be unleashed and I will be signing books and handing out candy in my local bookshop. I will be sure to blog about that, and hopefully I'll get some more sneak peeks and bonus content posts in before then! So stay tuned. In the meantime, you can pre-order the ebook of Ambulatory Cadavers.

    And be sure to check out the blog list at the bottom of this post and follow, follow, follow! There are some great blogs and scary-good authors.

   Today I just have a little film review and giveaway. I love old horror movies (70s or 60s and on back to the genesis of film). I got started on them because of Christopher Lee and his portrayal of Dracula, and then I got hooked on Hammer and so on...then I found Metropolis and fell in love with silent films.

   WHITE ZOMBIE (1932)
   Directed by: Victor Halperin
   Starring: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorne
 
   This film is the original zombie movie, the introduction of the Haitian tradition to America. Now, the first zombie movie of the modern style, with the whole apocalypse thing is Romero's Night of the Living Dead. White Zombie is much more stylish. It was filmed over the course of eleven days on a tiny budget on leftover sets from Dracula and Frankenstein. I think Bela's performance as Murder Legendre is almost better than his Dracula.
   The zombies are slow and silent, undead slaves. I think they're great.
   The story begins with a young couple arriving in Haiti to get married at the home of their benefactor, M. Beaumont. The first scene is a burial in the middle of the road, 'where people pass all the time,' to discourage grave robbers.
   M. Beaumont wants Madeline for himself and hires Murder Legendre to use his powers to steal her. Murder gives him a mysterious powder. You can guess where it will go from there.
   The plot is fairly simple, but gorgeous photographed, with a few wild but clumsy fade effects and great acting by Bela and the adorable Madge Bellamy. The sets are gorgeous, with a spectacular castle that is obviously a painting (I LOVE painted backdrops), but somehow incorporates moving surf crashing on the shore. The music is a little average, except in two spots, the chanting at the beginning and a weird hummed number that gives an amazing mood to the scene where the drugged Madeline goes to the gothic balcony and heatstroke-suffering Neil senses er form the camp on the beach.
   All in all it captured my imagination and I give it 5 of 5 stars!

   Now the GIVEAWAY! Just comment with your favorite horror movie or old movie recommendation and you'll be entered to win a blu-ray copy of White Zombie!
 

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