utgard14 Horror comedy from Monogram starring Mantan Moreland and a couple of forgettable bores. I'm not a big fan of Moreland but I'll admit he outshines these two guys by a country mile. It's basically an old dark house film with the three men stranded in said house on an island with a mad scientist (Henry Victor in a role originally meant for Bela Lugosi).There's a lot of stuff about voodoo and zombies, which is just an excuse to let Moreland do his bug-eyed double-takes and "afraid of spooks" routine. This is the part of Moreland's comedy shtick that I have never enjoyed. And it's not because of the offensive racial element of it, but rather because I'm not enamored with comedians who rely heavily on goofy facial expressions for laughs. I've voiced the same complaints about the likes of Red Skelton and Huntz Hall. But there is a part of Moreland's act I do like and that's when he falls back into his vaudeville routine of having a snappy back and forth with another actor. We see a bit of that here when he shares scenes with the maid (played by Marguerite Whitten). Those scenes were my favorite parts of the movie.Anyway, the horror isn't all it's teased to be as there's an espionage plot that's a lot less interesting. It was 1941, after all. It's not a great movie but it's not terrible by Poverty Row standards. It moves along quickly enough, which helps. But the entire film rests on Moreland's shoulders. If you love him, you'll probably laugh your tail off watching this. If you don't, this will go over like a lead balloon.

LeonLouisRicci Monogram Studios is sometimes called "The King of the B's". Here is "King of the Zombies". While this Film is nowhere Near "White Zombie" (1932) or "I Walked with a Zombie" (1943), both Bona-Fide Classics, it gets its Charm from Mantan Moreland Delivering, once again, His Self-Aware Schicht of Racial Heritage with an Upbeat.Moreland might be the Highlight in this Interesting Entertainment, but there are others. The appropriately Eerie Setting of Jungle and "Haunted" Mansion, an Early Display of Nazi Sympathizers, the Combination of Voodoo Spells and Hypnotism (a rather complex insertion considering), the Finale with the Ritual is Creepy, the Chants and Music Ominous.A Product of its Time to be sure, the Comedy Blends Well with the Horrific Situation as there is Danger Afoot and a Dooming Atmosphere. The Cast, in reality Supporting Mantan, do acceptable Work, maintain Straight Faces and Genuine Concern. Overall, a Cult Film for a Number of Reasons and is Worth a Watch because of its Zombie Pedigree, Mantan Moreland at His Best, and Extracting such Fun on such a Low Budget.

TheRedDeath30 I don't want to do it. It's talked about enough, but I feel like I have to address it. That giant elephant in the room of our culture anymore. Of course, I mean racism. It's such a touchy subject, but one that has become so implicit in our culture that it seems like you can't discuss any film anymore without defending or abusing it's portrayal of minority characters. The film should be judged, fairly, on its' comparison to other cheapie horror films of the era and how it stacks up, but there is so much discussion of the stereotyping of black characters in this movie that you almost have to discuss it. By not addressing at all, you run that risk of being labeled a racist yourself because you dared to embrace a film that has obvious stereotypes.I do not champion those stereotypes, nor approve of some of them, but I am also willing to say they are products of their age. That does not excuse them, but also does not mean that an audience looking at it with the benefit of 70 more years of racial understanding should judge it by today's standards. I'm already discussing this far more than I intended, so I will say this. Mantan Moreland is the star of this movie. He is hilarious. He is the entire reason that this movie is so enjoyable. It would be another 20 years before Hollywood really started giving starring roles to black actors, so I would say that Moreland is a pioneer here and should be appreciated for it. So, enough of my rant.The movie has a lot in common with the other Monogram Pictures of its time, cheap throwaway horror films, produced with a small budget, bad writing and bad acting and pushed out. Most of them had ridiculous plots with people acting in ridiculous ways and this movie is no exception. What it doesn't have, that a lot of Monogram's best known pictures have, is Bela Lugosi, but they got Henry Victor to do his best Lugosi impersonation.Two guys are on a mission to find a missing admiral who has crash landed in the Caribbean. Naturally, they bring their servant along because you can't go on a trip without your valet, now can you? They end up crash landing on an island that seems to be mostly jungle except for a creepy European guy who has a big, Gothic mansion in the middle of the jungle. It's filled with his sleepwalking wife, his young niece and a house full of zombie servants. It is, actually, one of the last films that I can think of where Hollywood used the old style zombie, the idea of the Caribbean style mindless minion that became popular horror fodder in movies like WHITE ZOMBIE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE. The movie is full of jungle drums, mindless walkers, hidden passageways and a big voodoo ceremony in the finale. On the surface, the Nazi type character is doing research on hypnosis and mind control. Ultimately, he is using it as a plot to help his allies with a nefarious plot against the Americans they are at war with.The two main characters are really just window dressing. We have the secret agent man, young and dashing, out to win the girl and save the day, but he's completely generic and forgettable. His buddy, the pilot, is along for some comic relief and to become the plot device as he is brainwashed by the evil scientist. It is Moreland who is the star. He has a majority of the screen time. He gets all of the best jokes. He is, also, the hero. Moreland is the one who realizes that something is afoot. He uses the other servants of the house to dig up information on what is really going on in this plantation. In the end, it is Moreland that saves the day. His sense of humor is fantastic. Yes, typical of the day there are a lot of one-liners and witty comebacks, but his facial expressions and use of body language is, also, just spot on.The humor makes this movie shine, but there is plenty of Saturday matinée monster goodness to satisfy my cravings. Watch this in a dark room on a Saturday night and it's perfect. The zombies go perfectly with the jungle drums, setting an exotic scene of scariness. The main villain plays his role well. Yes, he's clearly aping Lugosi, but he does it well. The creepy voodoo witch adds a nice touch, leading up to a finale, complete with voodoo masks that reminded me of something straight out of a Scooby Doo cartoon, which is what this whole movie feels like to me.

Cinemafou A mysterious island, a mysterious doctor living in a mysterious old house with mysterious people. Three men in a plane crash land on this island and the mystery thickens. Dark, forbidding and ominous. And everyone in the cast of this dark tale plays it straight, except for Mantan Moreland.Often classified as a horror film, Mantan Moreland puts on a bravura performance, turning this dark and forbidding tale into pure satire. Yes, he is relegated to the scared of everything role just like Stepin Fetchit. This is 1941, after all. And this a low budget, cheesy production. But his comedic talents are brilliant and make this film worth watching which, if he were not in the film, would be a forgotten throwaway.I tend to like very old films, and this is a real antique. But age alone does not make it good. There was a good deal of trash produced in the old days, just like today. But when you have a gem like this, it is worth preserving and watching repeatedly after a suitable time. And I believe you can download this from the Internet Archive since it appears to have fallen into the public domain. Very funny and great fun. I give it an 8.