The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

Hammer should have made more zombie films, 4 February 2005

The basic story: Sir James Forbes (André Morell} and his daughter Sylvia (Diane Clare} visit a doctor friend and his wife to help with some strange goings-on in town. Sir James soon suspects supernatural forces are at work. After the doctor's wife dies of a strange illness, Sir James and the doctor spend the night in the cemetery to see what will happen. Sure enough, she rises from the grave. When Sylvia begins showing similar symptoms to that of the doctor's wife, Sir James knows he must find who or what is behind the dead coming back to life. Anymore of the story would be too much.

The acting in The Plague of the Zombies is excellent. Andre Morell (who also played Watson in Hammer's excellent version of The Hound of the Baskervilles) is very believable and effective as Sir James. And, Diane Clare is perfect in the role of the fragile Sylvia. This is Hammer, so Michael Ripper is here doing his usual steady work as the local police sergeant. The rest of the cast is more than adequate.

Most every Hammer film I've seen is a treat for the eye, but this is one of the more visually pleasing Hammer films I've ever seen. The sets, the Cornish village, the vivid colors (example: the deep, rich red Hammer blood), and the costumes are dead on.

But what makes this film so impressive is the intelligent script written by Peter Bryan. Bryan has crafted a script with characters that act and speak appropriately. For example, instead of just accepting the fact that the dead are coming back to life, Sir James (as a scientist) must have proof. The steps he takes to find out what's going on are believable and realistic. Too many horror films have supposed scientists jumping to the wildest of conclusions without a shred of proof. Today's script writers could learn a thing or two from this movie.

A word of warning to fans of more modern zombie films - these are not the zombies of Fulci or Romero. The zombies in this movie more closely resemble those in White Zombie or, one of my favorites, King of the Zombies. Instead of being mindless flesh-eaters, these zombies appear to have some reasoning ability and serve a master as a slave. The make-up is not as gruesome as modern zombies, but given Hammer's usual limited budgets, it's quite good.

9/10