Pan and Slam Cinema Forum

Director: Victor Halperin

Stars: Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn

by Jason Koenigberg

In honor of the 60th anniversary of Bela Lugosi’s death the streaming pick of the week is one of his finest leading roles that was not Dracula. Lugosi’s legacy is synonymous with his iconic portrayal of Bram Stoker’s vampire but beyond creating the most well known version of Dracula, Bela Lugosi starred in a myriad of other horror films ranging from stellar, to pure campy shlock directed by Ed Wood. White Zombie, which inspired Rob Zombie’s heavy metal band, is one of his best and is actually one of the first motion pictures to introduce the concept of zombies to North American audiences, taking the voodoo terrors and bringing them to the big screen. A man turns to a witch doctor to brainwash the woman he loves but instead inadvertently turns her into a zombie slave. It is a classic horror film with great atmosphere and worth streaming to discover a great film with Bela Lugosi, one of early cinema’s most famous screen presences. 

White Zombie is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime and you can find a decent version on Youtube.