Yeah I know pretty much every horror fan over the age of 25 has seen or owns on some DVD multipack that well meaning aunt gave ya for X-mas the movie White Zombie. And yeah the print used is kind of shitty. It is watchable,and way way better than the horrible 5 buck VHS I bought at K&B Drugs when I was 12.
But it is October,it's a Monday and what better way to start the week than a horror classic starring Bela Lugosi. And it is hosted by one of the best of the modern Horror Hosts Count Gore De Vol. For years now on a regular schedule the Count has been releasing horror films new and old to Vimeo. So why is the Count one of the best of the modern Horror Hosts? Many many reasons,but one of them catapults him to the top.
The Count has a great set. And in the inside of his coffin he has the infamous Vampirella Door poster. For years Warren sold that poster,and I always wanted one but there was no way my Catholic mother was gonna allow her son to have that poster. Here's a better view of the poster.
The episode opens with the Count letting us know this is an older episode that was shot in SD. And he does a pretty good job explaining 4:3. So it is off to what I am guessing is the early to mid 2000s. Count Gore is pondering Christmas. And instead of playing Santa Claus conquors the Martians for the 100th time this holiday season Count Gore De Vol has a co host to show us White Zombie. And that co host is ZOMBIE CHEERLEADER!
Really either you love the Count's type of humor or you hate it. I love it. And with this episode the film is good enough that if you don't care for the Count it isn't hard to skip his parts and watch the movie.
Speaking of the movie it has been reviewed in every form of media too many times. So besides pointing out a few personal highlights I am mostly gonna stick to reviewing the Count Gore parts.
Lugosi always brought a evil regal aura to his horror roles. Bela as Murder Legrendre for me is better than Bela as Dracula. Then there is his evil Voodoo powers. First he has his eye trick.
Sure to modern eyes it is a bit cheesy and low tech. But cause Bela has a presence that comes around once a generation he can take a cheesy effect and make it work almost 100 years later.
See. Just Bela holding his hands in an odd way adds a weird feel to the movie. It was the small things Mr Lugosi did that makes it worth going back and watching some of the Poverty Row movies he made after peaking with his staring role in Universal's Dracula.
About halfway thru the film we go back to Zombie Cheerleader and Count Gore. She is trying to teach Gore a cheer.
It's a amusing spot. Then it is back the the film. Seriously if you have never seen White Zombie go watch it. It is public domain,which is why every horror host shows it,and you can find a decent looking copy in a variety of video codecs at the Internet Archive.The film ends and we get our final skit. That is another thing I like about the Count ,you get a few short skits but he never seems to overstay his welcome.
Zombie Cheerleader has dressed Gore up as a cheerleader.The Count is horrible and the show is over.
White Zombie is a classic and while it being public domain means it is freely/cheaply available for everyone that also means there is piles of horrible prints floating around. One final kinda neat thing is if you use the Vimeo app you can download any video on Vimeo for offline viewing. I have started stockpiling episodes of Count Gore to watch during long car rides.
White Zombie gets a B+ Count Gore De Vol and Zombie Cheerleader get a B.
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