The Plague Of The Zombies (1966) offers up a distinctly post-colonial horror. A horror that sees feudalism give way to capitalism. Haitian culture and religion are appropriated by the aristocracy and weaponized against a community. The Plague Of The Zombies trades in the spectacle of the undead as horror but the real scares come from the moral and political corruption of the ruling class.
The most frightening sequence in the film doesn’t feature the undead at all. It is the sequence where Diane Clare is terrorized by the Squire’s young henchman. She is pursued across the moors and abducted. The sequence is frantic and the cuts kinetic. They bring her back to the mansion where they encircle her and assault her unchecked until John Carson arrives. It’s a chilling scene of sadism as every avenue of Clare’s escape is blocked by shiny riding boots.
Carson’s Squire is the villain of the piece. He employs the voodoo rituals of an enslaved people to enslave the villagers under his care as zombie automatons. The sins of British imperialism are turned against its own people so that Carson’s Squire may profit from a tin mine on his estate. It’s a far more real terror than Hammer’s usual Dracula and Frankenstein. This is an indictment of imperialism, the aristocracy, and capitalism.
But it is always a distinctly Hammer production. Despite its unique themes The Plague Of The Zombies looks and feels every inch a Hammer Horror. The sets are recycled and the cast uses familiar players such as André Morell. The Plague Of The Zombies is awash in bold colors and the harsh lighting of Hammer productions from this period. And the film is helmed by Hammer stalwart John Gilling who also directed The Reptile (1966).
The Plague Of The Zombies is a more nuanced and political horror film from Hammer. It’s one of those rare Hammer Horrors like The Nanny (1965) that has something explicit to say about British culture. It’s a film that skews the Gothic towards more contemporary political sensibilities while never forsaking its genre roots. It remains one of the finest films Hammer produced during their heyday.
