Black Moon
Director: Roy William Neill
Year: 1934
Rating: 6.5
Coming only two
years after White Zombie, this film has plenty of voodoo but no zombies.
I have to admit to being a bit disappointed by that, but this still struck
me as remarkable and a little shocking for where it goes in Pre-Code times.
This like White Zombie could not have been made without a few drastic changes
within a year. It is a horror film and the atmospherics and music are terrific
and filled with a sense of foreboding. It is directed by Roy William Neill
before his Sherlock Holmes days and is produced by Columbia as a B film coming
in at 68 minutes.
Still, it has a few big stars - the lovely
Faye Wray a year after King Kong but no screaming from the Scream Queen,
Jack Holt who was an action star in the Silent era and Dorothy Burgess who
to my eyes had a passing resemblance to Joan Crawford. And not to forget
two black actors - Clarence Muse who was the carriage driver in White Zombie
and Madame Sul-Te-Wan who was the first black actress signed to a studio
contract. Both were later inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
And in tiny roles the multi-talented Theresa Harris and Ruby Dandridge, mother
of Dorothy.
Mom playing the drums and staring off into
space as if in a trance. Burgess is married to Holt and has a little girl
Nancy (Cora Sue Collins - who must have been scared shitless in that last
scene). The mother was brought up on the island of San Christopher in the
Caribbean and wants to return after a long absence. She wants badly to go
back. Badly. Nothing will deter her even when a friend from her uncle tells
her that news of her return has reached the island and the voodoo drums are
beating in anticipation. Leaving her husband behind, she takes her daughter
and Faye who is the secretary to Holt goes as well. She is in love with him,
but he is clueless. As soon as they arrive, the natives form a celebration
around her and escort her to her uncle's house. Just a little strange.
The daughter is put in the care of Madame
Sui who is as creepy as hell. Then a few people mysteriously die and Burgess
starts going out at night for long walks. She turns out to be a Voodoo Princess
and the time for sacrifices is nearing. Holt shows up and wonders what the
hell is going on. Only Muse who brought him to the island is on his side
and saves the day later on. A few nicely done rituals with group dancing
and singing and an ending that feels very unexpected. This hit my B film
pleasure zone though a few zombies would have been welcome.
The film is accused as being racist by some
- and I suppose it might be in the sense that it suffers from the malady
of many films taking place in Africa at the time - the few white people menaced
by the superstitious black natives. But it is about a voodoo cult in the
Caribbean - in 1934 - I am not sure exactly what people expected. It is a
bit like going into the water and complaining that it is wet. And in the
end the white woman chooses the black natives over her own family - that
never would have gotten by the censors after the code was put into effect.
