Rob Zombie Calls This Iconic, Free-to-Stream Horror Classic “A great movie”
Rob Zombie has long been influenced by horror films. Hell, White Zombie, the band that launched the shock rocker to stardom, is named after a Bela Lugosi classic from the ‘30s. Zombie and Company didn’t just pick the band name on a whim, however. It turns out that White Zombie is actually one of lead singer Rob Zombie’s top five horror films of all time.
That’s right. In conversation with the Rotten Tomatoes blog, the musician-turned director counted down his top five favorite horror films and White Zombie graces the list. Of the film, Zombie said: It’s an amazing movie. I’m pretty sure it’s the first movie to ever use the word “zombie” — to use that in a movie.
Zombie appears to be correct in that assessment. A quick Google search reveals that White Zombie is widely recognized as the first film to use the word ‘zombie’ and many credit the picture as the first ‘modern zombie movie.’
The House of 1000 Corpses director went on to tell the Rotten Tomatoes journalist conducting the interview that he latched onto the name before he even had a band, thinking it would be the perfect moniker for a rock group. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Victor Halperin directed the 1932 film. He helmed from a screenplay by Garnett Weston. The legendary picture shot over the course of just 11 days for an estimated budget of $50,000.
If you are keen to experience the pre-Code horror film that helped shape Rob Zombie, you are in luck. The fine folks at Tubi have made the flick available to stream for free (with ads). Hooray!
The setup for this Rob Zombie-endorsed chiller goes like this:
Murder Legendre is the menacingly named zombie master of Haiti. Charles Beaumont goes to him when he needs help for a twisted plan. Spurned in marriage by Madeline Short, Beaumont has decided on a simple solution: kill Short and bring her back as a zombie. Then he can be with her forever. The only problem comes when Legendre keeps the fetching girl for himself — and her new husband comes to Madeline’s rescue.
That’s everything we have for you at present. Stay tuned to Dread Central for more essential recommendations from your favorite creators in the genre space as we successfully unearth them. If you’d like to further discuss the merits of pre-Code cinema, come find me on Threads @FunWithHorror.
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