Totally absurd but nonetheless curious feature film, the first to tackle a subject matter that in years to come would become one of the most recurrent sub-genres in horror movies: zombies.

The film itself has an obvious lack of exposition and backstory, jumping and moving directly through the action, hindering all kind of emotional attachment that you could end up developing for any of the characters involved in the story.

This element is then further accentuated by rather lacklustre performances from the main cast, even including the “headliner” Bela Lugosi who is not completely bad in it and provides some interesting scenes (especially those in which he shares the screen with Robert Frazer) but an obvious caricaturisation of his previous year’s hit persona, Dracula, and overuse of his eyes make him less poignant.

On the other hand, those more secondary parts are truly the most entertaining ones. The doctor, the driver, the butler, the maids, and most especially all the extras who play zombies, more specifically the ones that only appear for a brief moment working out Murder’s (Bela Lugosi’s character) mill. Those zombies really feel lifeless, soulless, and you can completely perceive the huge influence that their look and mannerisms would insufflate in the future portrayal of such type of role in cinema.

Then on the technical department, the highlight is without any question the incredible sets, the various rooms appearing in the film, independently to being more majestic or more intimate, alongside the several tiny details that populate them give an extra breath of life to the film, compensating to a certain extent the plainness of the acting. Besides the decoration, we also find ourselves with some quite interesting and nice shots, ingeniously framed.

But, at the same time, some chaotic technical elements we find as well. Above anything else, in the editing department, especially in the transitions. There is a moment that the movie becomes a sort of crazy slide presentation with cheesy and dizzying transitions that do not stop. Among this madness, one curious element, a diagonal split screen which actually was rather fun and captivating.

Journeying through all this ups-and-downs, a bit understandable if we consider that in that period experimentation with the form due to amateurishness was still quite common, we reach a too convenient and disappointing climax, as well as we also we reach the end of this review. The rating arises from a more benevolent approach in assessing a film that otherwise, and most surely, if made today would receive a lower score. But, considering its, already mentioned, understanding early experimentation elements, and taking into account its later influence in the genre we have got to give it some props and respect and actually encourage its viewing even if it is nothing too special as a film on itself.

Courtesy of Cult Cinema Classics