Revolt of the Zombies (1936)

An international expedition is sent into Cambodia to destroy an ancient formula that turns men into zombies.

Director:

Victor Halperin

Stars:

Dorothy Stone, Dean Jagger, Roy D'Arcy

Cast

Credited cast:
Dorothy Stone	...	Claire Duval
Dean Jagger	...	Armand Louque
Roy D'Arcy	...	Gen. Mazovia
Robert Noland	...	Clifford Grayson
George Cleveland	...	Gen. Duval
E. Alyn Warren	...	Dr. Trevissant (as E. Alyn 'Fred' Warren)
Carl Stockdale	...	Ignacio / Max MacDonald
William Crowell	...	Priest Tsiang
Teru Shimada	...	Buna
Adolph Milar	...	Gen. von Schelling (as Adolph Millard)
Sana Rayya	...	Dancer
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bela Lugosi	...	The Eyes (archive footage)

Storyline

On the Franco-Austrian Frontier during WW I, an oriental priest, chaplain of a French colonial regiment, is condemned to life imprisonment because he possesses the power of turning men into zombies. As the priest,in his prison cell, is preparing to burn the parchment containing the location of the secret formula, Colonel Mazovia kills the priest and takes the partially-burned parchment. Fade to after the war to an expedition of representatives from all the Allied countries (only those with colonial interests it appears) being sent to Cambodia to find and destroy forever the Secret of the Zombies. The group includes Colonel Mazovia (somewhat akin to sending the fox to guard the hen house); a student of dead languages, Armand Louque; Englishman Clifford Grayson; and General Duval and his daughter Claire. Armand falls in love with Claire, who accepts his proposal of marriage in order to spite Clifford whom she really loves. Later, when Claire, following an accident, runs to Cliff for ...

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Plot Keywords:

expedition | priest | servant | temple | accident | 

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Taglines:

Zombies--- Not dead, not alive!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 June 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

La révolte des zombies

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edward Halperin Productions, Victor Halperin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The eyes that are frequently superimposed on the screen are those of Bela Lugosi. They were taken from Victor Halperin's earlier film White Zombie.

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Quotes

Ignacio MacDonald: You've done a terrible thing to her.
Armand Louque: Is it so terrible to fight for and to get the one thing in this world that you want?
Ignacio MacDonald: Not if you played a gentleman's game.
Armand Louque: I don't like sermons.
Ignacio MacDonald: Nor, perhaps, the truth?

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Connections

Referenced in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: The Screaming Skull (2010)

User Reviews

Much Potential, But Halperin Drops the Ball

This film is something like a sequel of "White Zombie", since it is made by the same man (Halperin) and features zombies. Halperin, the George A. Romero of his day, fails to deliver with this one, though.

We have a man who can control the minds of people in Cambodia, and a search to destroy the source of his power so the zombies can be sent free. Also, a love interest for the evil man.

Where this film really excels is in the imagery. The Cambodian temples and dancers are very nice and the zombie look very powerful in their large numbers. Unfortunately, we don't really get to see much of the zombies in action and the love story seems to play a much too large role for a horror film (though this has a valid plot reason later on).

I would have loved to see some 1930s zombies attack helpless city folk, but this film just did not deliver. And no strong villain (like Bela Lugosi) was waiting to do battle against our heroes. And the use of Lugosi's eyes? A nice effect, but misleading as he is never in the film... why not recreate this with the new actor's eyes? Overall, a film that could be a great one with a little script re-working and could someday be a powerful remake (especially if they keep it in the same post-war time frame). Heck, if they can fix up "The Hills Have Eyes" then this film has hope.