The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

the leading man is my tpye

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Look no further than Hammer's own Hound of The Baskervilles for the inspiration behind this movie. Peter Bryan wrote the script for both films, and with its well-depicted Cornish setting, charming elderly hero and green-fleshed zombies this is certainly one of their better efforts in the mid-sixties.Andre Morrel is superb as Sir James Forbes, investigating a strange series of deaths which his son-in-law Doctor (Brook Williams) brings to his attention. Sir James eventually uncovers the machinations of the local squire (another excellent showing from John Carson), who is zombifying the local populace to mine for him. This is probably lifted from WHITE ZOMBIE. And the basic story bares some resemblance to Dracula. It's well disguised, however.There's also Jacqueline Pierce's memorable turn as a sweet young wife transformed into one of the undead. She's was probably not intended to dig in the tin mines with the rest of the zombies! The most famous sequence, of course, is the nightmarish resurrection scene. Brilliantly shot and edited, this is one of Hammer's most frightening moments. Ironically, the movie went out as the support to Dracula Prince of Darkness, but it's a much better film than its "A" feature. Plague of The Zombies still holds up.

I caught this unexpectedly on TV one afternoon and was surprised by how good it turned out to be. I was expecting it to be rather campy and melodramatic but it just wasn't. Rather, an intriguing story, taut direction, a foreboding musical score and some fine acting all held my attention to the very end. Andre Morell is particularly outstanding and Brook Williams is excellent too (especially in the decapitation-scene and dream-sequence), Diane Clare makes for a spirited, no-nonsense heroine, Jacqueline Pearce is suitably languid, and John Carson displays just the right amount of villainy as the diabolically scheming Squire. Visually, too, the film is very strong, with great camera-work and stunning use of location. Perhaps the single most notable aspect of this film is the dream-sequence which succeeds in being truly eerie and disturbing. What really makes it so, for me, is not just the zombies themselves but also the reaction of the dreamer: he doesn't exhibit the kind of terror that you usually find in such scenes, he just appears kind of puzzled and almost as if he's in a trance himself. And it's daylight, which makes the scene even more unsettling. It's interesting to consider the nature of the zombies featured here. On the one hand, these are just poor, subservient mine-workers (the film touches upon themes of capitalist/colonialist-oppression), which makes them somewhat akin to the original concept of the zombie as a mindless slave. But they are also very much like the shuffling decaying corpses of the Romero films (and it is noteworthy that Night of the Living Dead came out just a year or two later). Altogether The Plague of the Zombies appears to be rather unjustly overlooked in zombie film-annals, but Hammer's only excursion into the genre is one of its very best productions.

John Gilling directed this atmospheric Hammer studios thriller that stars Andre Morell as Sir James Forbes, who, along with his daughter Sylvia(played by Diane Clare) have arrived at a Cornish village to help his former student Peter Thompson(played by Brook Williams) deal with a string of mysterious deaths he hasn't been able to solve because of the superstitious villagers. The local Squire Hamilton(played by John Carson) is in reality the leader of a secret voodoo cult that is using zombies as slave labor in his silver mine, and having first targeted Peter's wife Alice, now wants Sylvia... Excellent horror film has fine atmosphere, direction, and script, with good performances by all. Makes a perfect double feature with "The Reptile", also from Hammer.

To keep this simple - atmosphere, that is the best, single word to describe this film for me.It emanates the creepiness that modern zombie flicks lack, thus, this is the definitive zombie film in my book. The acting is top-shelf and you warm up to (connect with) the characters quick-like as a result.Then, the makeup... as one of the earlier zombie films done in color, you really get to see the terrific detail lacking in earlier B&W movies, and I dare say better than later, more mainstream titles that I won't mention by name ;) Again, atmosphere.Bottom line, not much in the way of gore, as is so common in modern zombie movies (they seem to rely on it), but what you get is emotion. I can watch often and love to experience the creepy feel of the film, the ruthlessness of the villains, the triumphs and tragedies of our protagonist and his crew, then...the films climax. Greatness from start to finish. Love it!