Subj : Vampire Bat/White Zombie
To   : ALL
From : Dumas Walker
Date : Sun Nov 01 2020 11:18 am

Watched a couple more horror/sci-fi movies yesterday, both courtesy of TCM
and my DVR. :)

SPOILER ALERT!

There may be a few spoilers here!

The Vampire Bat is a US movie from 1933 that stars Fay Wray, Melvyn
Douglas, and Lionel Atwill.  The townspeople are afraid after a series of
murders that appear to be vampire related.  However, the local detective is
not convinced.  The movie eventually starts down a path involving mind
control/zombies and an antagonist who is doing not-so-good things in the
pursuit of science and blood study.

This one has some funny moments, too, provided largely by some of the
supporting characters.  Not a bad movie.  I would probably watch it again
if it shows again next Halloween season.

One note about it... it was restored by the UCLA film school, and they did
a pretty good job overall.  Based on the cards at the beginning, I was
afraid they had colorized it.  Turns out, it is still in black and white,
except for some scenes that involve the use of torches... those scenes are
in black and white and shades of red.  :)  It had a threatening effect.

White Zombie is a 1932 US movie about a voodoo master played by Bela
Lugosi.  This one is also about mind control and zombies although, like the
previous movie, they are not the flesh or brain eaters that you see in
most modern zombie films.  They are usually performing mundane tasks until
their master decides it is time for evil!

Anyway, man and woman want to get married.  Another man has fallen for the
woman and offers his home as a wedding venue.  Man #2 asks Man #3, the
voodoo master, for his assistance.  The voodoo master has, of course, also
fallen for the woman and has other plans.

This one was suspenseful at the beginning and the end, but the middle
seemed to drag out for a while with lots of shots of Lugosi's eyes, Lugosi
(and the zombies) making faces, and Lugosi's "zombie grip."  As the movie
was < 75 minutes long, they must have had a pretty short story to work with.
It was not a bad movie. I would watch it again, but I would not go out of my
way to do so.


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