First released on August 4, 1932, it was the first film to feature zombies. The script by Garnett Weston features a young couple in Haiti, Neil Parker (John Harron) and Madeleine Short (Madge Bellamy), who have been invited by a casual acquaintance, Charles Beaumont (Robert Frazer), to come to his plantation to be married.
Beaumont, however, is actually in love with Madeline and hopes to persuade her to become his wife instead. Rebuffed, he approaches local white Voodoo master "Murder" Legendre (Bela Lugosi) to temporarily turn her into a zombie, have her declared dead, send Neil back to the States in mourning, then revive her so that he can woo her anew. Legendre, however, has his own plans for the young lady, and for Beaumont.
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