That was an excellent one.

Disapointment

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

At a time (1934) when horror films filled the screen with Universal's neck-biters and plodding giants, there's this little voodoo obscurity from Columbia studios. It's a genuine oddity, more closely related to the great Val Lewton atmospheric series of the 40's than the genres of the 30's. Seems an upper-class lady (Burgess) returns to Haiti following a voodoo curse placed upon her as a child. Going with her are her husband (Holt), nanny (Wray), and daughter (Collins). The island is a dark place and soon the lady begins acting strangely. Is it the bygone curse or some other malign influence.I'm not surprised that Lewton's I Walked With A Zombie (1943) references this film in its screenplay (IMDB). There are many parallels, especially in mood and setting. Moon, however, lacks the coherence and general impact of the later film. Nonetheless, there are many unsettling moments—the first voodoo ceremony where Burgess twists and leaps to the accompaniment of a resounding drum beat. In fact, the crowd scenes featuring natives in synchrony to the incessant beat are especially effective. However, the story itself never really gels into a riveting whole. Perhaps that's because the focus shifts too often, splitting the story into threads that tend to scatter the suspense. Still, the movie's definitely worth catching up with, and may even surprise viewers considering its general obscurity.

I didn't know what to expect with this film but it turned out to be a rather creepy and sinister story. A woman who was raised on the West Indies island of San Christopher longs to return as an adult to confront the demons of her past, as her parents were both killed by natives on the island. Her husband and uncle who live on the island both warn against the idea, but Juanita Lane (Dorothy Burgess) sets off for San Christopher with her daughter (Cora Sue Collins) and attendant Gail Hamilton (Fay Wray) in tow.The most troublesome aspect of the story to me had to do with Juanita's casting aside of her husband and daughter as she gets caught up in the voodoo rituals of San Christopher, to the extent that the island villagers elevate her status to one of a high priestess. In a scene where a male high priest is about to sacrifice a native black woman, Juanita's husband Steve (Jack Holt) intervenes by shooting the man, but to finish the ceremony, Juanita picks up the machete and completes the sacrifice! The fact that the scene wasn't graphically shown in no way lessens the impact of the imagery.A similar scene gets to play out in the latter part of the story, but this time it's Juanita's daughter who becomes the object of the island sacrifice. The script probably should have done a better job of defining the motivation for such a horrific idea, all the viewer is left with is the impression that Juanita must be terribly insane. As the cacophony of native drums mesmerizes Juanita with their hypnotic effect, Steve Lane arrives just in time to shoot his own wife to save his daughter's life. The most unbelievable aspect in both instances was the lack of reaction by the chanting villagers. You would think they'd be the slightest bit upset by the interruption of their ritual celebration.Though I've seen Jack Holt previously in a couple of B Westerns, this was my first look at him in a leading role. He's not very charismatic in this portrayal, and he doesn't appear to have much chemistry with wife Juanita or his assistant Gail. Though it's more than apparent that Miss Hamilton carries a torch for the older man, it never really appears that Steve Lane is on the same wavelength, even if the story's resolution has all the main participants returning home as a newly reorganized family. You just had to wonder how they were going to put this horrible event behind them.

Black Moon (1934) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Twenty-plus years after her parents were murdered in a voodoo ritual, a woman (Dorothy Burgess) travels back to the native land where the people there want her to start up as their leader. The woman's secretary (Fay Wray) wires her husband (Jack Holt) to come and try to save her but it might be too late. This forgotten horror film from Columbia falls somewhere between WHITE ZOMBIE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE so fans of those two films will certainly want to check this out. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not a major fan of all three films as I think they all have a great atmosphere but in the end their stories just aren't strong enough to carry the films for me. There's a lot of stuff that does work here with the biggest plus being the atmosphere created by the director. We really get the feeling as if we're on this island surrounded by the strange locals and in the middle of something evil. There's no fog machines but that doesn't keep Neill away from delivering the goods as the dark tone of the film also hits on something that the Val Lewton films would eventually do and that's the use of shadows. Another plus is some fine cinematography as well as a nice performance by Holt. Wray, the original Scream Queen, is good too, although, as usual, she isn't given enough to do. What doesn't work, for one, is the performance of Burgess who is easy on the eyes but her character is badly underwritten. Another problem is the actual screenplay that really doesn't offer any twist or turns up until the very end when the movie does go in a direction that you wouldn't normally expect.

Made in the same year as White Zombie, and a few years before I Walked with a Zombie, was Black Moon, a more obscure little chiller directed by Roy William Neill(..most notable for his Sherlock Holmes movies)regarding a New York businessman's daughter in danger of being sacrificed in a voodoo ritual due to his wife's association with San Christopher island natives.Jack Holt stars as Stephen Lane, the businessman who allows his wife, Juanita(Dorothy Burgess), along with daughter Nancy(Cora Sue Collins), nursemaid Anna(Eleanor Wesselhoeft), and secretary Gail(Fay Wray) to return to San Christopher, her homeland where she grew up under the corrupt influence of Ruva(Madame Sul-Te-Wan)and voodoo priest, Kala(Laurence Criner). Poisoned with their beliefs and power, Juanita becomes their priestess, under the spell of the voodoo drums, Nancy is to be sacrificed at the rising of the full moon. Stephen answers the wire of Gail to come to the island where danger awaits and he will join forces with Dr Raymond Perez(Arnold Korff)who runs a plantation which has been on San Christopher for generations, attempting to cull the restless, hostile natives who have started to stir away from civility due to Juanita's reemergence. Gail, as it turns out, is in love with Stephen and Juanita can no longer escape the beat of the drums, her decision to return home placing her own daughter in jeopardy.This could be seen as possibly racist as the black natives are evil, willing to do whatever it takes in order to sacrifice someone for the full moon. Any attempt to get Juanita off of the island, or to fight against their influence is met with murder. Anna, who voices her anger towards Ruva when she attempts to nursemaid Nancy, for instance, is found dead in a lava pit nearby the plantation. A message operator, who sends word by wire to other locations, is found hung. Juanita actually attempts to drug Stephen and somewhat willingly offers her daughter(..this is where she actually fights against the voodoo curse which summons her)for potential sacrifice. A revolt entraps Stephen, Perez, Gail, and Nancy in a tower, along with McClaren(Clarence Muse), a black shipboat captain who lost his girlfriend to a sacrificial voodoo ceremony..this ceremony, establishing the frightening lengths the natives would go to appease whatever god they serve, is disturbed by Stephen who attempts to stop the sacrifice by shooting Kala. The suspense is surprisingly built well, using the voodoo drums, often heard in the background, as a constant presence to unnerve the viewer, recognizing the threat and how real it is to the lives of those foreign to the island(..not to mention, Perez, whose death would, in turn, release the natives to overtake San Christopher). Interesting is how the natives are shown in a negative light, but if one dwells on their oppression(..the island being occupied by white man Perez who abusively barks at the natives when they host a welcome party for Juanita)you can see why they would seek to rebel against Perez. Fascinating portrayal by Burgess, her Juanita wrestling with feelings towards both sides, eventually motivated towards the natives and their voodoo, unable to resist. Wray is simply lovely in a supporting role, a kind-hearted soul who wards off her devotion and love for Stephen, her accepting the trip to San Christopher as a favor to him actually saving Nancy's life due to her message for him to come to the island. Some striking B&W photography, including some stunning shots of Burgess, her face emoting the pull of the natives' power. A curio for fans of movies about voodoo and it's use as a weapon..not quite as atmospheric as White Zombie or I Walked with a Zombie, but has it's moments.