We’re sticking with under-appreciated Hammer films this episode, and another from 1966 - “The Plague of the Zombies”.
A film in which André Morell is such a badass, he stabs a man who is already on fire; the local constabulary are so obliging that they don’t just turn a blind eye to grave robbing: they also help fill in the hole; and Servalan is feeling really rather tired.
This was originally released as a double bill with “Dracula: Prince of Darkness”, and while the Count brought the box office clout, “The Plague of the Zombies” is definitely the more exciting and interesting film. Hammer’s only foray into zombie territory wisely transplants the myth’s Haitian origins to Cornwall, thus bringing in an element of British colonialism, which is then married to a comment on capitalist exploitation of the workers, making for a remarkably modern subtext. But the gothic visceral chills are there too, both supernatural and all too horribly human, with a standout dream sequence that really gives these zombies some evocative menace, that may have played into George A Romero’s take on the monsters a mere two years later.
Watch (or re-watch) to avoid spoilers and join us.