If you're thinking I'm reviewing something related to this band, well you're not far off. I'm actually reviewing the film where they got their name from. It's an underrated independent horror film starring Bela Lugosi called...
A jealous man named Charles (Robert Frazer) goes to a Witch Doctor named Murder (Bela Lugosi) for help to keep his lover Madeline(Madge Bellamy) away from her finance Neil (John Harron). The only thing Murder can do is turn her into a zombie. Charles accepts the offer and Murder successfully turns her into a zombie. Meanwhile, a broken hearted Neil finds out about Murder’s power and tries to stop him. The plot is very bizarre and can get kind of confusing at points, so keep in mind that it's one of those films you have to see more than once to get it.
Bela Lugosi as the villain Murder is just as scary and
creepy as he is in "Dracula". He looks and resembles the devil in
this film with his mustache and goatee combo, evil looking eyebrows, and dark powers. He also makes
deals with people that have very bad consequences, and if that's not devilish
enough for you, I don't know what is. Every scene he appears in this movie is just
unsettling and just gives you the creeps. His performance is kind of similar to
his portrayal of Dracula with his polite personality and his unsettling scary
eyes as he stares at people. Bela Lugosi is one of the main reasons why I
recommend this film.
The zombies in this movie are a lot different than the zombies that we see in most zombie films. Instead of looking like gory dead bodies while eating people’s flesh, they're dead chanting people under Murder's control to serve him as his slaves. I'm all for gory zombies eating peoples flesh but I like this take on zombies as well. It's different, but it's still a good idea and most of the scenes when we see the zombies, they're working for him instead of going out and killing random people, it just shows you can do more things with zombie films and quite frankly I'd like to see another zombie film similar to this. The zombies themselves may not look gory but they're still creepy as hell and the scary thing about them is we never see them blink. Madeline as a zombie is just as creepy as the zombies are, but you feel more emotion from her which makes it sad. The zombies and Bela Lugosi are the only interesting characters and are the only good actors in the film. The other characters are flat out boring and only slow the film down.
Aside from Bela Lugosi and the zombies, what really makes this film good are the visuals. I'm not kidding, the visuals in this film are really really good and like "Nosferatu" it gives the film it's nightmarish look. It has great shadowing, great set designs, and incredible editing. I don't want to give them away but trust me they're very good.
The film has it's flaws but it's something that horror fans will at least enjoy or like. I don't think it's a great horror film but it's one of those films you either love or hate.
RATING 3/5
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