King Of The Zombies (1941)dir. Jean Yarbrough
During World War II, three men searching for a missing Army Admiral are involved in a plane crash in the Caribbean. They come across a spooky castle run by Dr. Sangre. The area is filled with mindless zombies and Dr. Sangre is actually after secret plans to help his unnamed country win the war. He uses the zombies and voodoo in an attempt to make this happen.
This is a real wacky film and goofy fun. The main character isn't any of the broad shouldered white guys, but Mantan Moreland who plays Jeff, the African American "sidekick" to the white guys. Jeff runs around bug-eyed and whoopin' up a storm as he plays a Skip N' Fetchit creating all of the comedy in this film. Could it be considered racist by today's standards? Hell yes, which is part of what makes it an entertaining film. It helps that it was an intentional comedy/horror, but you laugh today for a whole different set of reasons. Though, to his credit, Moreland delivers some very funny lines in a manner that catches you off guard in their subtlety.
Clocking in at barely over an hour this is still a lot of fun today and an interesting look at low budget horror films and how racial expectations created comedy.
Well worth a purchase
since it is double featured with Revolt Of The Zombies (1936), which isn't that great, but has a few moments.
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