REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES (1943)
Article #533 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 8-31-2002
Posting date: 1-23-2003

A scientist plans to supply his country with an army of zombie soldiers.

Near as I can tell, this movie was intended as a follow-up to KING OF THE ZOMBIES, and they start out on the right foot by taking the crucial step of getting Mantan Moreland back. The presence of John Carradine is also encouraging, and the wonderful opening scene in which the zombies are summoned forth on a windy night is an effective, moody, and promising beginning, marred only by the minor problem that the zombies walk a little too much like tin soldiers. Unfortunately, the movie goes down the tubes after this; they may have gotten Mantan back, but they forgot to give him any good comic lines or situations; there’s nothing here to match his moments in KOTZ. Carradine himself seems to spend much of the movie in a torpor; I don’t know if he was trying to underplay, but he looks bored half of the time, and it could have really used some energy on his part. Between these problems and the confusing plot, this is probably the least satisfying of the Monogram horrors I’ve seen.