Plague of the Zombies (Widescreen)

 

 

Create your own review

Sadly, Anchor Bay no longer offers this DVD and there is no indication that they (or Blue Underground) will be offering any of these classic Hammer titles on DVD anytime soon. Its too bad. This is one of the lost gems from Hammer.

The title of this film is INCREDIBLY Misleading!! There are NO ZOMBIES ANYWHERE in this film! A Terribly Disappointing film to watch or to own. This one CAN "Passed Over" AND Forgotten.

I watched this Hammer production only yesterday and it's worth watching from beginning to end. It's especially a treat to be savored on Halloween night. Although I basically knew what this 1966 film was about, it nevertheless held my interest. Just about all of the movie's elements, such as the script, camera shots and overall direction, have been carefully crafted so that John Gilling would avoid creating a hackneyed, cliche-driven monster flick. Not bad, considering that "The Plague of the Zombies" was filmed in a single month!
Actor Andre Morell stars as Sir James Forbes, a London Professor who travels to Cornwall after answering a distress letter sent by his ex-student Peter Thompson (Brook Williams). Cornwall itself is a small communal village riddled with superstitious beliefs; the villagers won't allow scientific research performed on their dead. Upon arriving, Forbes investigates a mysterious fever that has killed 12 villagers. The cause of this disease is unknown, but Peter's study indicates that every victim suffered dementia, a loss of appetite, and skin discoloration. What makes this case even stranger is how the bodies buried in the Cornwall cemetary are disappearing! Later, Forbes' strong-willed daughter Sylvia (Diane Clare) follows Peter's distressed wife Alice (Jacqueline Pearce) after she suddenly wanders away from home in a trance. Curious about Alice's mental state, Sylvia eventually comes across an abadoned tin factory where Alice's body turns up dead. Sylvia, meanwhile, gets a frightful scare in an accidental encounter with a walking corpse! After collecting a number of scientific clues, Forbes, Sylvia and Peter eventually uncover a devious scheme conducted by Clive Hamilton (John Carson), the town's wealthy Squire. The suave and sadistic Hamilton is secretly performing voodoo rituals to infect innocent villagers with zombification; once transformed, the living dead are forced into slavery, working endlessly in the tin factory's underground mines. In a wicked pattern, Hamilton preys upon each victim by politely asking for a drink of water, dropping the glass and forcing each person to cut his/her skin. This enables the Squire to collect drops of blood and seal each victim's fate with black magic. After discovering this, the alarmed Sir James and Peter race against time; they must break into Hamilton's estate and rescue Sylvia before SHE becomes the Squire's latest zombie slave!
Like I said before, this film is guaranteed to hold your interest in place. Beware for a few scares! Wide-eyed corpses will rise from their graves only to be decapitated and set on fire! Also watch out for masked figures wearing hollow masks and dripping blood into wooden coffins!

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 21 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

4.0 out of 5 stars A small gem from Hammer studios
I watched this little gem for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. The story is well written and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Read more

Published on Oct 24 2002 by W. Russell

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the original zombie movies
This is an above average Hammer Studios film from 1966. It was filmed back to back with The Reptile, another above average Hammer production, using chiefly the same crew and much... Read more

Published on Oct 17 2002 by Troy M. Ros

4.0 out of 5 stars Above average Hammer movie
This is an above average Hammer Studios film from 1966. It was filmed back to back with The Reptile, another above average Hammer production, using chiefly the same crew and much... Read more

Published on Oct 12 2002 by Troy M. Ros

5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD HAMMER HORROR.....
"Plague" is a well made British period horror film about a Cornish lord/landowner using voodoo (via rituals he picked up in the islands) to turn the local people into zombies to... Read more

Published on Sep 24 2002 by Mark Norvell

3.0 out of 5 stars Digging Up A Few Old Friends
People keep inexplicably disappearing and dying in a backward Cornish town. Visiting doctor Andre Morell can't find out why, because the locals are so superstitious they won't... Read more

Published on Jun 1 2002 by Bruce Rux

4.0 out of 5 stars Plague of the Zombies
It's impossible to give a Hammer-style film a 5 star review but this one is pretty good. Atmospheric and dreamlike, it is only let down by a poor turn by John Carson as the... Read more

Published on Feb 8 2002 by David Johannesson

4.0 out of 5 stars "Director John Gilling does it again!"
Intelligently written allegory of colonial blight and ravening classism which is also very well acted and superbly directly by Gilling ,and who is also an imaginative screenwriter... Read more

Published on May 2 2001 by Decimated1184

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it
Not really much to add to what has been said by others on this page. Pague of the zombies is one of the very best efforts from the much derided hammer studios. Read more

Published on April 20 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling work from Hammer
"Plague of the Zombies" is a great little gothic mystery thriller. Preceeding "Night of the Living Dead" by a couple years, it marks Hammer Films only foray... Read more

Published on Jun 15 2000 by Charles Prepolec

4.0 out of 5 stars The original and still the best modern zombie movie
Plague of the zombies is a horror film with breeding.In comparison to its illegitimate offspring of the 1980s spawned by such directors as George Romero it boasts what can be done... Read more

Published on Mar 14 2000 by Mr. Davies

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 21 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!