L'Invasion des morts-vivants

John Gilling directs with style and flair in one of his minor masterpieces The Plague of the Zombies. Hammer only made one foray into the zombie sub-genre with this film about a doctor and his daughter paying a visit to a former medical student who has written for help. Apparently in his Cornish village, men and women are dying without explanation and are showing symptoms the doctor cannot diagnose with any real degree of certainty. Of course they soon discover that the bodies are no longer in their caskets and that many of them have been seen AFTER they have died. Gilling effectively films the sequences of action that take place in typical Hammer style with an emphasis on suspense. Although lacking the star power usually attributed to a Hammer production, this film is right up there in terms of great Hammer films. The only "star" is Andre Morrell(you may remember him as Watson in Hammer's The Hound of the Baskervilles). Morrell is quite good and I think he should have been utilized more by the studio than he was. The rest of the cast does a very credible job as well. Gilling's camera is the real treat though as he really shoots several scenes quite effectively. His dream sequence with the zombies tearing the earth from their way out into the open is a classic. Now I know some people will make the inevitable comparison to this and Night of the Living Dead(a film that came AFTER this one). That is understandable using NOTLD as the barometer of all zombie films; however, let me just point out again that this film came before that one and may have aided Romero in some way. Granted there are not a slew of similarities, but Romero may have gleaned something for this production as it is apparent he did from The last Man on Earth and Carnival of Souls. I too wish Hammer had done more with zombie films. they would have given that sub-genre a bit more class than is sometimes associated with it.

My vote for best Hammer movie of the 1960s goes to 'The Plague Of The Zombies'. It is easily one of the most original and entertaining films the studio ever released. Director John Gilling (also responsible for the bodysnatching classic 'The Flesh And The Fiends' a.k.a. 'Mania') really turns up the suspense in this gripping tale. He is helped enormously by a strong cast of leads - Andre Morell (the best Quatermass, in the original fifties TV version of 'Quatermass And The Pit'), who plays Sir James Forbes, man of science who must eventually accept that magic exists. Diane Clare ('The Haunting'), his independent daughter Sylvia, who becomes entangled in the mysterious goings on in a small Cornish village. And John Carson ('Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter'), the charming but evil Squire who they must defeat. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and am baffled why it is rarely mentioned when Hammer horror movies are discussed. Highly recommended fun, creepy and well acted.

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!)

Sir James Forbes (André Morell) and his daughter, Sylvia (Diane Clare), are out of the blue requested to travel to a Cornish village by Sir James' former pupil, Dr. Peter Thompson (Brook Williams). The village has become a haven for mysterious deaths and Peter's believes that Sir James can shed some light on the matter. No sooner do they arrive when another victim surfaces and it's quickly becomes evident that something far more sinister than medical problems is at work here.

Hammer Horror tackles the zombie sub-genre with no little amount of success. Directed by John Gilling, The Plague Of The Zombies was filmed back to back with the equally entertaining The Reptile. Filmed out of fortress Hammer that was Bray Studios, the same sets that were used for The Reptile were also used here. With Bernard Robinson's Cornish Village again a treat for sore eyes. 1966 was the last year that Hammer used Bray Studios and it's fitting that it was a year that saw efficient and varying creepers filling out the Hammer Horror cannon. Peter Bryan's story, aided by some interesting imagery, delves into the dark world of witchcraft and voodoo, thus giving this particular "zombie" piece an extra dimension. This is not merely about zombies roaming the countryside and killing indiscriminately. Evil they are of course, but they have a purpose and being that comes to light as the story unfolds. There's also nods to tyranny and exploitation, wryly observed by the makers here, cheekily cloaked in a cloud of rotting flesh.

Technically it holds up rather well too. The effects are strong enough to carry the story, with the zombies eerie personified as they shuffle around all green flesh and grumbling away as we know they should. All captured in deluxe colour that comes out nice in High Definition. The cast are fine, with Morell standing out as he gives his usual classy and professional performance, while James Bernard's score is suitably at one with each and every change of pace. This is not just a fine and under appreciated part of the Hammer Horror output, it's also a worthy and most notable entry in the "zombie" genre. See it if you can. 7/10

Young workers are dying because of a mysterious epidemic in a little village in Cornwall. Doctor Thompson is helpless and asks professor James Forbes for help. The professor and his daughter Sylvia travel to Thomson. Terrible things happen soon, beyond imagination or reality. Dead people are seen near an old, unused mine. Late people seem to live suddenly. Professor Forbes presumes that black magic is involved and someone has extraordinary power. He doesn't know how close he is: the dead become alive because of a magic voodoo-ritual, and so they must serve their master as mindless zombies. A cool zombie flick, with a decent cast, gruesome special effects, good atmosphere...worth watching! Not in the same league as, say, "The beyond" or "zombies", but it's decent entertainment anyways!