SGM Month of Halloween Horror Movie for Oct. 3

"Plague of the Zombies" (1966)

Themes: Zombies; British horror
Synopsis (from the back of the box): A strange disease reaching epidemic proportions is invading the English countryside where Peter Thompson practices. In desperation, Thompson seeks the help of his mentor, Sir James Forbes, who comes to his assistance in trying to make sense of the horrible plague. Amidst walking corpses, voodoo dolls and empty graves, the two embark on an investigation that uncovers a ghastly secret and leads them to the shocking truth.

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This was one of the first handful of movies that dealt with the living dead, hitting screens a good two years before George Romero made a killing off of walking stiffs in "Night of the Living Dead." This marked a distinct departure for Hammer, who previously had been milking the teat of the classic monsters that had been previously introduced to the public by Universal Pictures (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, the Phantom of the Opera). Shame they didn't take a shot at the Gill-man from "The Creature of the Black Lagoon." Ah well, more's the pity.

This bad boy is less Romero, shambling around eating flesh as social commentary, and more Bela Lugosi, "White Zombie" (1932), with its emphasis on hoodoo enslavement. Sure, there's the occasional murderous rampage, but all that does is go to show that you can't find good help these days.

It's a pretty smooth film, trading in on the Hammer Gothic storytelling style in order to weave a tale of zombies vs. the living, and it explores ideas that, while these themes are better fleshed out in later zombie films, are reminiscent of the EC Comics style of the '40s and '50s. All in all, a tidy little chiller.

Rating: 2 1/2 count.