Just perfect...

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Blistering performances.

This is a pretty chilling thriller from the Hammer studios that grabs your attention from the very beginning by having the drums beaten by obvious voodoo worshipers, and it happens to be going on in the very best country homes of jolly old England. Beautiful Diane Clare and her nobleman father André Morell arrive for a weekend with friends and find more than they bargain for. Clare makes the mistake of giving the wrong direction of a fleeing fox to noblemen chasing the poor creature and gets cursed out when they realize that she deceived them purposely. It wouldn't be so bad if these men were not into witchcraft, placing a voodoo spell on Clare's friend Jacqueline Pearce who bleeds to death as part of a curse placed on her. We see how all of this is done, with squire John Carson playing noble as he helps bandage up the finger of his victims after they've cut themselves picking up a broken glass. Pretty soon Clare gets the same treatment, and Morell and Pearce's widower husband Brook Williams must rush to save Clare from the same fate as Pearce whom Clare witnessed being tossed like a bag of compost into an open grave, bleeding and broken. As it is revealed that something much more bizarre than your random English countryside murder has occurred, it becomes a race of good against evil, and for some, they will find their fates leading to a road to doom that nothing short of Godly interference can stop.Think of this as "Downton Abbey" meets "The Demon Barber of Fleetstreet", taking me back to all those Tod Slaughter 1930's mad melodramas where as the master of menace, he had something malevolent up his sleeve and would pay dearly for it at the end. Those films were made extremely cheaply and featured so much mustache twirling that the villain could easily rip out his own facial hairs. In this film, the villains are either completely clean shaven and noble, or under a spell of death and at the beck and call of the voodoo masters. Those creatures are the zombies, here with the sunken eyes, the look of rotting skin, and with no soul of their own but to do as is demanded of them by their evil master. It's suspenseful, colorful, elegant, and never once dull, yet because of all of the other Hammer horror films focusing on Dracula, mummy's, man-made Frankenstein monsters or wolf men, this one seems to have been forgotten. Morell is commanding as Clare's father, bemused by her antics at the beginning, and completely unaware of what the consequences of them will be. She is beautiful and charming, never one of those boo-hoo'ing heroines that would grate on your nerves from the start of a film. The ending has some spine tingling moments that might come back to haunt you in your sleep!

Everyone rightly agrees that George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD pretty much single-handedly invented the modern zombie genre in 1968. It posited the zombies as a flesh-eating monsters which, when massed together, became a terrifying threat. Therefore the quaint Hammer Horror film THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, made in 1966, is one of the last of the old-fashioned zombie films made just before the sub-genre changed forever.The good news is that this is a fantastic little film which feels much fresher and more inventive than Hammer's Dracula or Frankenstein films of the era. Peter Bryan's screenplay is the stuff of excellence, featuring some realistic and likable heroic leads (Andre Morell is at his best here, I feel), a truly dastardly villain in the form of John Carson (making him a fox-hunting toff is a stroke of genius), and a very clever reason for the existence of the zombies in the first place (they're cheap labour in a Cornish tin mine).Prolific B-movie director John Gilling directs what I think is his best movie. Certainly this is atmospheric stuff indeed with wonderful sets and costumes and a really lush and colourful look to it. The supporting cast includes Michael Ripper and Jacqueline Pearce and is just as colourful in its own way. The eerie dream sequence is well-remembered for a reason and there's one of those rousing fiery climaxes that Hammer did so well. THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES is a real delight for horror lovers and there's not a thing I can fault about it.

Sylvia Forbes receives a letter from her school friend Alice who lives in a village in Cornwall , a village that has been struck by a mysterious illness that is killing the inhabitants . Since her father is the eminent doctor Sir John Forbes she suggests they visit the village to get to the bottom of this mystery If you've been brought up on the post Danny Boyle super fast zombie era then don't build your hopes up . In fact if you're ages with me and remember catching all these George A Romero movies on home video in the 1980s where a zombie sinks its teeth in to someone and bite a chunk out of someone , again don't expect any gore . In fact don't expect any zombies because its not that type of movie . In many ways it plays out like a period mystery set in the late 19th Century and uses most of the sets used from the other Hammer movie from 1966 THE REPTILE one of the best most atmospheric films the studio produced . If you're expecting something along the lines of THE REPTILE again you're going to be disappointed The problem lies in the way the story is told . We're shown a scene where black extras thump on some bongo drums ( Films in those days did play up to stereotypes a bit too much and Hammer were worse than most at it ) where a Shaman gives an incantation . If you've no knowledge as to what might be happening here the title of the film gives a very big clue . What this means is that the audience are one step ahead of Sir John Forbes as he tries to solve the mystery , a mystery that is rendered redundant to the audience . The Shaman's plan for the undead when it is revealed is faintly ridiculous when given any thought , but I guess those nasty mine owners don't believe in a ( Pun alert ) paying their employees a living wage Not to be totally negative there is a plus point in the film's favour and that is the casting of Andre Morell as Forbes . Morell is best known for his portrayal as the eponymous Professor in the original BBC production of QUATERMASS AND THE PIT . Every time I give a loan of my DVD of that show to anyone vaguely interested in television science fiction they always comment that one of the best things about the show is Morell's performance . He effectively plays the same character in exactly the same way which is in no way a criticism . Forbes is an intellectual studious man with a hint of both arrogance and open mindedness and he's very easy to buy in to as being a real person who is on a mission to solve something which makes the film slightly better than it possibly deserved to be

i remember seeing this movie when i was only 8 yrs old. scared the crap out of me. my dad had to come to the theater and get me. i never forgot this movie. cant wait to see it again. i remember this movie had the whole place screaming. very graphic for its time. i found this movie when i was looking for other movies done back in the 1960's. I'm so glad i found it and for a real good price. it will a gem in my DVD collection. i will be making a big bowl of popcorn for this one!! i often tried to find this movie but was not sure of the title. i like the old thrillers as i remember sneaking off to the movies. i used to take money from my grandmothers purse, and sneak off with my friend. dad would get so mad when he had to drag a terrified child home and then try and convince me it was just a movie. oh the good times!!