REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES (1936) *1/2 I can't really begin to explain it, other than to begin by pointing out that they knew something was going on at Angkor Wat, and they use a beautiful and giant photo of the shrine as a backdrop throughout the film to prove it.. I guess you'd begin with the consideration that some of the actors were reasonably fresh from silent films, or stadium vaudeville or something, and thus felt the need for exorbitant gestures and moments of hesitation that are more like hibernation. I also prefer more zombies with my zombie movies. The superimposed eyes (Bela Lugosi's, lifted from White Zombie) are the scariest part! Dorothy Stone isn't an unreasonable nominee in the Worst Screen Actress Ever, and in their (love, kind of) scenes together Dean Jagger complements her to near imperfection by behaving as though any comma in the script is insurmountable in a period of less than ten minutes. I'm definitely not saying that there's nothing entertaining about it. The climactic scene, in fact, is utter brilliance in the style most closely associated with Ed Wood: liberated zombies storm the ramparts at a snail's pace and upon reaching their destination one stabs a wooden door. Jagger does the worst dying from a bullet wound scene ever, while Stone swoons in a manner more than slightly reminiscent of Vivien Leigh's worst moments as Blanche DuBois. I'm very sorry that there wasn't a sequel (surely Jagger could have been resurrected as a zombie, a role for which his skills were probably better suited), as they finally seemed to be putting it all together.
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