The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

John Gilling

Writer:

Peter Bryan (writer)

Release Date:

12 January 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Young workers are dying because of a mysterious epidemic in a little village in Cornwall. Doctor Thompson...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Mine | Village | Dying | Epidemic

Cast

André Morell	...	Sir James Forbes
Diane Clare	...	Sylvia Forbes
Brook Williams	...	Dr. Peter Tompson
Jacqueline Pearce	...	Alice Mary Tompson
John Carson	...	Squire Clive Hamilton
Alexander Davion	...	Denver (as Alex Davion)
Michael Ripper	...	Sergeant Jack Swift
Marcus Hammond	...	Tom Martinus
Dennis Chinnery	...	Constable Christian
Louis Mahoney	...	Coloured Servant
Roy Royston	...	Vicar
Ben Aris	...	John Martinus
Tim Condren	...	A young blood (as Tim Condron)
Bernard Egan	...	A young blood
Norman Mann	...	A young blood

Also Known As:

The Zombies

Runtime:

91 min | USA:90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:12 (DVD rating) | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1966) | Norway:15 | Norway:18 (1970) | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

Filmed back-to-back with The Reptile (1966), using many of the same sets, most noticeably the main village set on the back lot at Bray Studios.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Squire Clive Hamilton catches Sylvia's blood in the glass, he transfers it to a vial. When he does so, it is revealed just how much blood was in the cup. However, there's no way that that much blood could have possibly come from a small wound on her finger.

Quotes:

Sir James Forbes: I, I find all kinds of witchcraft slightly nauseating and this I find absolutely disgusting.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Amazing Stories: Mirror, Mirror (#1.19)" (1986)

methodical Hammer goodness

This is certainly the only movie that I've ever seen involving zombies mining tin instead of consuming living flesh. It's actually quite a nice change of pace to see a cerebral zombie flick, though - one that relies on mystery and characterization instead of torrents of gore. As usual for a Hammer movie, the cast consists of cool character actors who could out-perform a good half of our current big stars. Andre Morell is great as our concerned hero, John Carson makes a suitably sleazy villain, and veteran Hammer guest star Michael Ripper gets one of his meatiest, most memorable roles. A solid flick, if not terribly fast-paced or gripping. It's fun to summarize the plot to your friends when you're drunk (it's about zombies...mining TIN!)