The 1930s are known for such immortal horror classics as
Frankenstein (1931), Dracula (1931), King Kong (1933) and The Invisible Man
(1933). But often forgotten are other great horror films that should be just as
widely known as the aforementioned, like The Most Dangerous Game (1932), The
Island of Lost Souls (1932), and this gem. Though White Zombie (1932) is
credited as the first zombie movie, it like many early "zombie"
movies only used the term zombie in the context of people being hypnotized or
drugged during voodoo rituals, (people
who are either just hypnotized and called "zombies" or people who
were under the influence of a drug that made them appear dead and then came
back to life, but were never dead at any time) but I would argue that this could
be considered the first zombie film in a sense as well. This (from what
research I did) is the first time the term "the walking dead" is
used, it is also one of the first times a person comes back from the dead and
is not the same as they were, (Dracula and Frankenstein excluded). Boris
Karloff was very influential on the overall turnout of the film. For example
his character was originally supposed to not speak once revived, and was
supposed to have "Tarzan-like agility," and Karloff thought the
character's lack of speech was too similar to his Frankenstein role, and that the character
should walk more slowly as his body probably would have sustained injury from
receiving such large amounts of voltage. It was also Karloff's idea to make his
character more likable and also empathetic by having him be a musician instead
of a bum and an alcoholic. It is mentioned on IMDB's "Connections" section for the
film that "The movement of the first zombie in Night of the Living Dead
(1968) was inspired by the way John Ellman walked." This film also has
unique cinematography for its time, and a unique blend of on location sets and
fabricated ones. The plot of the story is that Karloff plays a man who is
framed and sentenced to the electric chair, two witnesses to the crime come to
his aid to clear his name, but they arrive too late, however an experimental
medical procedure is done involving implanting a mechanical heart The procedure
is a success, but when he comes back he is not the same, into Karloff's body to
bring him back to life. he now knows subconsciously who framed him, but he is
not able to voice any information that he has gained about life after death upon his return from the other side. Karloff's character is wonderfully empathetic, you really feel for him as Karloff has such a wonderful expressive face. The film also has a wonderfully creepy atmosphere since Karloff's character frequents walking through
graveyards. The ending is also very good in
that it has a message/warning similar to that of Frankenstein and other
"coming back from the dead" stories like The Monkey's Paw, in that it
is better to let the dead stay dead, and also that one should not "play
God." I really enjoyed the film and I give it a 5/5. I could not find a trailer for this film.
