Black Moon (1934)

A young girl who lives on a tropical island loses her parents to a voodoo sacrifice, but although she manages to escape the island, a curse is put on her. Years later, as an adult, she ... See full summary »

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Clements Ripley (story), Wells Root (screenplay)

Stars:

Jack Holt, Fay Wray, Dorothy Burgess

Cast

Cast overview:
Jack Holt	...	Stephen Lane
Fay Wray	...	Gail Hamilton
Dorothy Burgess	...	Juanita Perez Lane
Cora Sue Collins	...	Nancy Lane
Arnold Korff	...	Dr. Raymond Perez
Clarence Muse	...	'Lunch' McClaren
Eleanor Wesselhoeft	...	Anna, the nursemaid
Madame Sul-Te-Wan	...	Ruva
Laurence Criner	...	Kala, the priest
Lumsden Hare	...	John Macklin
Henry Kolker	...	The Psychiatrist

Storyline

A young girl who lives on a tropical island loses her parents to a voodoo sacrifice, but although she manages to escape the island, a curse is put on her. Years later, as an adult, she feels a strong compulsion to return to the island to confront her past. Her husband, her daughter and her nanny go with her, but once back on the island, the woman finds herself elevated by the locals to the stature of a voodoo goddess, and she begins her inevitable descent into madness, with disastrous results for her family.

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Plot Keywords:

voodoo | racial prejudice | secret passage | psychological regression | jungle film | 

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Taglines:

Love battling against the sorcery of the jungle!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Creole

Release Date:

15 June 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Oi daimones tou Adou

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The language spoken by the native characters, and by Juanita (Dorothy Burgess) when she addresses them directly, is Kreyol (also spelled Creole), the African-influenced dialect of French that is the common language of Haiti.

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Connections

Featured in The Lady with the Torch (1999)

User Reviews

Hard to find, but worth the effort

In my unhealthy quest to see every available Fay Wray film, I picked up a copy of this off of Ebay, and I was very happy I did.

The Good: The film has a very dark mood to it, very much like the later film, "I Walked with a Zombie". Settings and locations are similar, and there are scenes and sets that look a lot like that later film. The overall feeling of doom is here, and the climactic scene is very well done. The scenes of the voodoo ceremonies really shine in this film, and although not a true horror flick, this satisfies with some eerie shots and creepy touches.

The Bad: I am not a Jack Holt fan. In my opinion he is the weakest part of the film. Also, there were some very good shots in the film. Some odd angles with good lighting. There were times, however, when the direction seemed uninspired and timid with this strong material. Almost like two directors had a hand in it.

Overall this is a fine film that deserves a good cleanup and DVD release.