Movie Review: Revenge of the Zombies (1943)
Synopsis: Upon learning of his sister's death, Larry Adams travels to the estate of her husband, Dr. Max Heinrich Von Altermann with private detective Scott Warrington to learn more. When they arrive, they learn his sister, Lila, along with many of the servants, has been brought back from the dead by Von Altermann and is now a zombie. However, unlike the other zombies, Lila is able to act independently and has a plan to get revenge on her husband.
Who's in it? The movie stars John Carradine, Robert Lowery, Gale Storm, Bob Steele, Mantan Moreland and Mauritz Hugo.
Review: I picked out Revenge of the Zombies this morning because it's been a while since I last watched a zombie movie and, at least from the brief description, I was intrigued. As it turns out, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
The movie, which is described as a horror/comedy, falls much more in the latter category, with a surprisingly large number of scenes being dominated by the driver, Jeff (Moreland), as he makes many of the zombie-related discoveries before anyone else. While I did like the idea of a Black actor from this time period getting such a prominent role, the jokes, which mostly consisted of him seeing a person or a body that would then disappear before someone could confirm his discovery, did get a little repetitive after a while.
As far as the zombie/horror movie part of it went, that was more than a little on the dull side. There was no sense of urgency at any point in the movie. In fact, neither Adams (Lowery) or Warrington (Hugo) showed any real concern when they figured out Dr. Von Altermann's (Carradine) Nazi-inspired agenda. Heck, they even were willing to drink the wine he gave them despite knowing he was a murderer. Oh, and considering Lila (Vita Ann Borg) was his sister, Adams really didn't seem too upset about it.
Even the part about Lila showing independence and a desire for revenge was a bit blah because it took her forever to do anything without any explanation as to why she was choosing to wait until the very end of the movie (and after her husband was already defeated). By the time she finally showed up to get her revenge, it was like "what's the point?"
Final Opinion: I think the biggest problem with this movie is there isn't enough focus on the zombies, especially Lila. Had that been the case, it would have had a better chance of being memorable. Instead, it was a film that wasted its potential.
My Grade: D
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Here are some reviews of other zombie movies:
Movie Review: Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018)
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