KING OF THE ZOMBIES (1941)
Article #233 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-4-2001
Posting date: 3-20-2002

Two men crash-land on an island with their manservant. There they encounter a suspicious doctor and a horde of zombies.

This sporadically dull horror film is noteworthy for two things; the first is that it actually netted an Academy Award nomination (Best Scoring for a Dramatic Picture), which was apparently a result of how pictures were chosen for nomination in those days. The other is more significant; the movie has a bang-up comic performance from Mantan Moreland, unfortunately working in a black manservant type of role that is considered stereotypical nowadays. This is sad, as he is truly hilarious and easily the best thing in the movie.

Incidentally, the doctor played by Henry Victor in the movie was originally intended to be played by Bela Lugosi (who would have been a lot more fun).