Only The Lord Of The Dead Could Unleash Them!
Directed by John Gilling.
Written by Peter Bryan.
AKA
The Zombies
L’invasion des morts-vivants (The invasion of the undead)
Zombien rutto (Zombie plague)
Im Bann des Voodoo-Priesters (The Curse of the Voodoo priest)
Ζόμπι, η μεγάλη νύχτα του τρόμου (Zombies, the long night of terror)
Dr. Peter Tompson (Brook Williams) sends a letter to Sir James Forbes (André Morell) telling him about some mysterious deaths in his village. Peter requests Sir James’ advice so Sir James and his daughter Sylvia Forbes (Diane Clare) travel to see Peter in a village in Cornwall. When they arrive at Peter’s house they are greeted by his wife Alice (Jacqueline Pearce). She tells them there’s been a lot of trouble in the area.
Peter is involved in an argument with a man called Tom Martinus who lost his brother, when Sir James’ meets up with him, over the lack of explanation for the deaths.
Sir James suggests that they dig up a body to aid them in their investigation.
Sylvia gets into a scrape with some fox hunters but is rescued by Squire Clive Hamilton (John Carson). On her way home Sylvia meets a zombie at an old tin mine. The zombie is carrying Alice’s body.
Peter and Sir James are caught digging up a body by two policemen: Sergeant Jack Swift (Michael Ripper) and Constable Christian (Dennis Chinnery): but Sir James’ opens the coffin and it’s empty.
Sylvia returns home and collapses. Sir James breaks the news of Alice’s death to Peter. When her body’s found Sir James and Peter examine it but find nothing.
Tom Martinus, who’s under suspicion for Alice’s death, claims to have seen his brother in his shroud…
A superb gothic horror film from #hammer with voodoo and zombies. The cast are great, very nice performances, and from beginning to end it looks excellent. Hammer fans will love it and who isn’t a Hammer fan? There’s so much to enjoy in The Plague of the Zombies that it’s nothing short of a classic. The zombies look great too.
Hammer films at their very best are timeless; The Plague of the Zombies is Hammer at their very best. A couple of years later a little film called Night of the Living Dead would change the world of horror forever but there’s nothing quite like an old classic on a cold winter’s night.
Also stars Roy Royston as Vicar, Jerry Verno as Landlord, Alexander Davion as Denver and Louis Mahoney as Servant.
If you like The Plague of the Zombies you might also like:
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Hanging Women (1973)
Shock Waves (1977)
Zombie Lake (1981)