User reviews

This film proves that a decent retrospective of the films of Roy William Neill is long overdue. A forgotten horror movie of real merit, BLACK MOON is obscure enough not to be listed in Halliwell's Film Guide but of sufficient interest to have played in New York's Film Forum a couple of years back (where I first saw it on a double billed with ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU!) The plot is right out of "Conjure Wife" with a slight foreshadowing of I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE. A New York socialite (Dorothy Burgess) is haunted by her childhood memories of being brought up by a voodoo priestess in Haiti. Her hope is to free herself from the past by confronting it outright but her plan proves disastrous. Returning to the island, she is promptly elevated to the status of a white goddess among the natives and is soon participating in human sacrifices, eventually plotting against her husband and infant daughter.

I have to admit my enthusiasm for this movie isn't shared by others in my immediate movie circle. The major flaw is that Burgess' transformation into a jungle high priestess is simply glossed over in the script. Indeed, she's off-screen for the better part of the movie. Instead the film focuses on the budding romance of Jack Holt as the harried husband and his secretary (that she's played by Fay Wray is at least a consolation). Still the film works up to an ominous mood, creating a palpable hothouse atmosphere as voodoo drums beat steadily on the soundtrack.

The film played on Turner Classic Movie many years back and is, presumably, in limited circulation. It's dated racial attitudes undoubtedly won't help it get the wider distribution it deserves. It's safe to say that a DVD release is unlikely but the film is worth tracking down.

Until only a few months ago, I had never even heard of this one – despite the involvement of director Roy William Neill (THE BLACK ROOM [1935]) and the era's foremost "Scream Queen" Fay Wray! Interestingly, it supplies the logical bridge between the distinctive Gothic and psychological backdrops of the two most notable early voodoo-related films – namely WHITE ZOMBIE (1932) and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943). The atmosphere here is similarly thick, without the need to resort to an actual prowling or possessed creature: indeed, having the lady concerned – very well played by Dorothy Burgess – actively believe in the power of voodoo (that is, until she sees the error of her ways on being asked to perform the ultimate sacrifice!), provides the biggest chill in this case! Incidentally, the two central female characters (with Wray being, naturally, the wide-eyed heroine) not only create the requisite contrast but make up for the rather uninteresting male lead – burly Jack Holt! Perhaps not a classic of the genre, then, but a perfect example of "a film that has fallen through the cracks"; in fact, the copy I acquired is a hazy VHS-sourced recording of an old TCM screening.

In my unhealthy quest to see every available Fay Wray film, I picked up a copy of this off of Ebay, and I was very happy I did.

The Good: The film has a very dark mood to it, very much like the later film, "I Walked with a Zombie". Settings and locations are similar, and there are scenes and sets that look a lot like that later film. The overall feeling of doom is here, and the climactic scene is very well done. The scenes of the voodoo ceremonies really shine in this film, and although not a true horror flick, this satisfies with some eerie shots and creepy touches.

The Bad: I am not a Jack Holt fan. In my opinion he is the weakest part of the film. Also, there were some very good shots in the film. Some odd angles with good lighting. There were times, however, when the direction seemed uninspired and timid with this strong material. Almost like two directors had a hand in it.

Overall this is a fine film that deserves a good cleanup and DVD release.

I'm not sure, but Black Moon may be the first horror film to be set in the West Indies and focus on voodoo. Of course, it would be the Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur film I Walked With a Zombie that would go on to become the best known early example; but Black Moon is still a worthy effort. The plot focuses on a woman born in the West Indies. She left at the age of two when her parents were sacrificed in a voodoo ritual, but apparently she is under some curse and decides to return to the island. She takes along her husband, nanny, daughter and his secretary and upon returning to the island, is elevated to the level of a God by the locals; which leads to danger for her family. The film was obviously made on a low budget as it all looks very cheap throughout. This improves once the film reaches the West Indies as the location shoots take some of the focus off the cheap looking sets seen earlier on in the film. The film is very slow burning and takes a while to get going, but once it does it's constantly interesting. Director Roy William Neill (who would of course go on to become best known for his Sherlock Holmes films) does well at implementing the atmosphere needed to ensure that the film is successful. It has to be said that there isn't a great deal of tension in the early parts of the film; but this is made up for by the ending which is strong. Overall, I wouldn't quite say that this film is a classic; but it will certainly be of interest for fans of thirties horror.

"I Walked with a Zombie" may not have been the first Voodoo film adapted from Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre," which is not surprising when you consider the West Indies was where Edward Rochester courted his mad wife. Perhaps it's a stretch, but "Black Moon" seems to contain several plot elements from Bronte's novel as Stephen Lane—whose West Indian born wife is drifting into madness—forms a close personal bond with his secretary.

When the wife (Dorothy Burgess), under the influence of a Voodoo curse, returns to her childhood home in the West Indies, Lane's secretary (Fay Wray) accompanies her. Lane (Jack Holt) soon follows. Here the secretary becomes a substitute mother for Stephen's child, recalling a similar relationship between Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester's ward Adele. Also, Stephen, like Edward Rochester, can finally have the woman he truly loves only when his wife dies as a result of her madness, in this case leading a native uprising.

Judging from other comments about this being a good example of pre-code horror, my expectations were high. But the director and writers never adequately explored the terror of situations. There are no build-ups of suspense. Things just happen. People are found dead after the fact. Killings and Voodoo sacrifices that happen on-screen are clumsily directed. Nevertheless, performances are uniformly good, the script is literate, and there are a few moments of cinematic art. The print I saw on Turner Classic Movies is very clean; and I was impressed by Joe August's cinematography in the scene in the tower as it filled with smoke from the burning tunnel. The interplay of light and smoke created an eerie atmosphere that I wish had been made more of.

I didn't expect too much from this film due to the simple fact that I'd never heard of it, but on a recommendation, I took a look at it and to say that it did not disappoint is an understatement! If you are a fan of 1930's horror films, this one has it all. The incessant background drumming on the island of San Christopher (Haiti) heard throughout 90 percent of the movie is wholly pervasive and will get your heart pumping at an increasingly frenzied pace right up until the closing credits.

This is one of the last of the pre-code pictures and it hold nothing back. Jack Holt, Dorothy Burgess and, especially, Fay Wray give fine performances. No comic relief here; this is all played for horrors and suspense! Director Roy William Neill (of "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" fame) does a commendable job of keeping the pace of the film frantic, yet tight. Too many "zombie" pictures just sort of plod along, but this one (though technically "voodoo", rather than "zombie"-themed) is non-stop, edge of your seat kind of fare.

As a fan of the genre, what a delight to "find" this movie and more so to have it exceed all of my expectations. Fay Wray made several other renown horror films in the 2 year period preceding "Black Moon": "The Most Dangerous Game", "Doctor X", "The Vampire Bat", "Mystery of the Wax Museum", "The Clairvoyant", and, oh yes, a little movie called "King Kong". "Black Moon" holds its own along with all of the aforementioned films.

At a time (1934) when horror films filled the screen with Universal's neck-biters and plodding giants, there's this little voodoo obscurity from Columbia studios. It's a genuine oddity, more closely related to the great Val Lewton atmospheric series of the 40's than the genres of the 30's. Seems an upper-class lady (Burgess) returns to Haiti following a voodoo curse placed upon her as a child. Going with her are her husband (Holt), nanny (Wray), and daughter (Collins). The island is a dark place and soon the lady begins acting strangely. Is it the bygone curse or some other malign influence.

I'm not surprised that Lewton's I Walked With A Zombie (1943) references this film in its screenplay (IMDB). There are many parallels, especially in mood and setting. Moon, however, lacks the coherence and general impact of the later film. Nonetheless, there are many unsettling moments—the first voodoo ceremony where Burgess twists and leaps to the accompaniment of a resounding drum beat. In fact, the crowd scenes featuring natives in synchrony to the incessant beat are especially effective. However, the story itself never really gels into a riveting whole. Perhaps that's because the focus shifts too often, splitting the story into threads that tend to scatter the suspense.

Still, the movie's definitely worth catching up with, and may even surprise viewers considering its general obscurity.

This was a movie that I learned about when compiling a list of the 1934 horror films for my Foray through the Fours. This one popped up for me when looking at Fay Wray's filmography as well. I believe this was her last one that she did in genre, which is interesting feather in its cap. There's also trivia that I found out with the production/release of this movie and why that was important. Other than that, I came into this one knowing as little as possible. I found this streaming on YouTube.

Synopsis: a woman returning to her island birthplace finds herself drawn to a voodoo cult.

We start this in the United States. Juanita Perez Lane (Dorothy Burgess) is playing the drums. The people in the house comment how she does this regularly and she's the woman from the synopsis who is from the island. In the room with her is her daughter, Nancy (Cora Sue Collins). Downstairs is her husband, Stephen (Jack Holt) and he's talking to a psychiatrist, played by Henry Kolker. They're supposed to be going back to the island she is from as she's been having issues mentally. It is believed that this will be good in alleviating that.

Stephen goes to work where we meet his secretary, Gail Hamilton (Wray). She slyly tells Stephen that she is quitting and won't be accompanying them to San Christopher Island. She drops that she is in love with a married man. I wasn't sure here if Stephen was picking up that it was him or not, but that was my guess immediately. He convinces her to come with them still as he needs her help. While he is away, John Macklin (Lumsden Hare) shows up to tell Juanita that she can't go to the island. Her uncle, Dr. Raymond Perez (Arnold Korff), forbids it for fear of what will happen to her. The Perez family are the only white people on the island. Something happened when Juanita was a girl and if she returns, her and her family could be at risk. Macklin then says he'll go tell Stephen directly.

The problem is that he is murdered in the office building before he can. The man who did it was caught and this shocks Stephen. He tells his wife what happened and tt causes him pause when she isn't more shocked. Juanita, Stephen, Gail, Nancy and her nurse, Anna (Eleanor Wesselhoeft) head to this island.

They are met at the docks by Raymond who is upset that they're there. He does greet them though and take them to the plantation. It is here that tensions rise. There are voodoo drums playing in the distance. Juanita wants Ruva (Madame Sul-Te-Wan), who was her nurse growing up, to take over raising Nancy. There's also a priest, by the name of Kala (Laurence Criner), who meets with Juanita. This upsets Raymond. Stephen must go off for work and Gail sees that things aren't right. She wants him to return as soon as possible and get away before it is too late. Raymond agrees and this upsets Juanita.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is with something I alluded to originally. This takes me into trivia as well. This was released on June 15th and the Hayes Code was enforced on July 1st. This would have prevented the movie from being seen as is since there are aspects that could be flagged for sure. Just something that I wanted to set up here.

Now that I have, let's get into what we're getting here. This feels in the vein of White Zombie or I Walked with a Zombie. We have characters going to the Caribbean where they're meeting with people who practice voodoo. This one is technically a zombie movie only in that, the tonic that would start the process is made and drank by a character. The character that ingested it was shocking and I liked the tension that built from it. I do like the narrative in that we have characters out of their element.

Sticking with this theme, we have Juanita who is from this island and drawn back. She plays this drum she has in New York as a mirror of how they do on San Christopher. Raymond doesn't want her to return. The natives do though. We learn later that as a girl, she was part of a ritual and I love that no matter how long ago this was as well as the things she done since, their pull is still there. That is creepy for sure since you can't escape it. Stephen is a good husband. He is willing to take her back to help her since that's what a psychiatrist thinks will help. He even wants Nancy to get a taste of her mother's heritage. What is intriguing here though is that he brings Gail. He doesn't seem to realize that she is in love with him and I like that she's not out to break up the marriage. She tries to distance herself. How things play out didn't shock me, I just didn't realize how they would fully do it.

Now there is racism here that was brought up in the trivia. I can see what they're saying. We are looking at the natives here as primitives and villains. The issue is that they're looked at as heathens who follow deities that need sacrifice. Now I know I've seen movies after this that handle the voodoo religion better. What is interesting here is that it feels like the writer didn't know enough about it, just want was in the Cosmopolitan magazine story. They left out the huge element of voodoo in that Catholicism is part of it. Being how early into cinema that we are, I'm not shocked.

That should be enough for the story so I want to go to the acting. I thought this was good here across the board. Holt works as our hero. He does disappear, but that works in its favor. Things happen that put his family into peril while he was gone. It could still happen to him there, but once he's back, he is taking charge of saving his wife and daughter. Wray is good as the woman who is a better fit for him. She's attractive as always. Burgess is good as this wife. I love how you get sequences that she's in a trance. That adds to the tension the longer she's on the island. Collins is adorable as their daughter who is in peril as well. I like Korff, Clarence Muse, Wesselhoeft, Sul-Te-Wan and the rest of the cast for their roles. Special credit that they did hire Black actors to take on the roles.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography was good in capturing the island. It feels isolated and there's not much between the dangerous locals and our group. This is still problematic but I won't harp on that. What also works here though is the sound design and music. Having that constant drum in the background is unnerving. No matter what they do, it feels like our characters can't escape, which is good. This doesn't have much in the way of effects other than that, but it is also early into cinema.

In conclusion, I thought that this was a solid film and glad that I sought it out. I like this idea of taking people from a modern city like New York and putting them on an island in the Caribbean. They don't fully understand the customs, which can be scary. There is this constant force that is pulling Juanita back and it could also need her family, which is terrifying as a new parent. We have a child in peril, even though I didn't think they would fully hurt her. This is well-made. I thought that the acting was good. This is one that I'd recommend to those that are interested in the history of horror cinema. There are good aspects to this for sure.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

A curio that all film buffs should see. But be warned. Very good black & white cinematography is not enough to compensate for this racist tale, even by 1932 standards. Maybe the way the ignorant colonialist characters of this film confront the religion of the islanders, is still assumed by many persons today, but all this voodoo crap has seriously affected horror cinema, until things began to improve a bit with the Hammer Film production "The Plague of the Zombies", and specially with "The Serpent and the Rainbow", which were more informed about the Caribbean and its tragic story of genocide, colonialism, tyranny and misery, all of which still affect many islands (big and small). The filmmakers didn't even make a fine research about the chants or rites of the voodoo religion (because a religion is what voodoo is, that should be treated with respect if we really believe in freedom of cult)... Here natives hum and hum, while the colonialists wear formal dress to have dinner. At least in "King Kong", released a year before, things were more palatable due to the fantastic nature of the story, with an island out of nowhere, so Max Steiner's ritual dances and the cult to Kong seemed marvelous, and they still do. But the St. Christopher of this foolish tale resembles Haiti way too much to be taken as plain "entertainment". On the performers' side, Dorothy Burgess is fine as Juanita Pérez, the "Voodoo Queen" (or something like that), and Arnold Korff is quite convincing as her colonialist landowner uncle, Dr. Pérez (how people with Spanish names and tombstones ended speaking creole in "St. Haiti" is not explained); while Fay Wray is nothing but a decorative figure, and Jack Holt, as the concerned entrepreneur and husband of Queen Juanita, seems more like her father. Don't miss it!

You'll want to sit down for this.

As with so many features from this era, 'Black moon' maintains a brisk pace, filling its 68 minutes with as much story as it can. We get a great deal of exposition in just 11 minutes, including an immediate touch of atmosphere - with persistent, lingering tribal drums - as Juanita (Dorothy Burgess) illustrates her lingering obsession very early on. Those drums help to maintain the disquiet about the film as they remain a prevalent element of the soundtrack.

I think every performance is exquisite. Set design and decoration, costume design, hair, and makeup are fantastic. Lighting, especially used in conjunction with smoke effects, is marvelous. Every scene is orchestrated and executed with profound excellence, including choreography. The music is captivating, the overarching mood is wondrously harrowing, and the writing is perfectly solid: scenes, characters, overall narrative.

If I were viewing 'Black moon' strictly as a horror feature, considering only its craft and how well it manifests a feeling of horror, then I would 100% regard it as a superlative genre picture, an essential overlooked classic, and a must-see that I dearly love.

However.

There's a strong, uncomfortable, predominant undercurrent of racism, unseemly cultural prejudice, and colonialism throughout the movie, to say nothing of a stereotypical presentation of voodoo. This runs parallel to a common theme in horror, and seen often in early cinema as a whole, of sexism presenting as active disregard for women's agency and autonomy. These notions remain paramount as bodies fall and terrible events accumulate, building tension and suspense, but to an effect opposite of the feature's design: we sympathize with the characters that are painted as antagonistic.

'Black moon' occupies a very peculiar space. On the face of it the content most assuredly fits the bill as horror, and there's an outstanding, dread air of dark power that pervades the feature. At the same time, just as much if not more than the specific course of events, the intended fright - absolutely from the "protagonist" characters' perspectives, and arguably possibly from a standpoint as well of the time in which the movie was made - is in the very idea of "natives" holding power, or of a white woman willingly supporting them, let alone immersing herself in their culture. That the film's antagonists commit or conspire of concretely villainous deeds is a contrivance of storytelling that could be applied elsewhere and otherwise, and is secondary to the central thematic focus. Dialogue contextualizes vengeance against the white landowners as "sacrifice," where "justice" would be at least as appropriate a descriptor, if not more. Synopses describe Juanita's path as "corruption," but what I see is enlightenment, tempered only by the express actions as noted.

There's a LOT going on in this movie, more than a contemporary analysis would have been able to glean. Retrospect informs how very complicated and dubious 'Black moon' is in its themes and narrative: unquestionably awful specific actions, all but negated in their import as they are wrapped completely in a broader sense of apprehension and antipathy toward a) the self-determination and sovereignty of black people, b) distinct and different cultures at large, and c) anyone who would commiserate thusly, and on equal terms. I'm not inclined to think that it was the abject intent of the filmmakers, or anyone involved, to create a movie this egregiously racist. But every brushstroke, however innocent, naively led to the ultimate fruition of a very unfortunate, very abhorrent portrait.

On the one hand, I want to say this is one of the best horror movies I've ever seen. On the other hand, it deserves thorough condemnation. My mind is blown, in two very different ways.

I will grant that I may be reading too much into it all. I'm rather reminded of Roger Moore's debut as James Bond, 'Live and let die' - I really do feel like the filmmakers set out to tell a very thrilling story, and nothing more. The only problem is that they didn't seem to realize just how much of a problem it was turning out to be as they went along - seeming to demonstrate a prejudice without even knowing it was there. Here, the dialogue of the "protagonists" in particular really hammers home the othering, and even if the slant of the final product were owed to mechanical spontaneity, the consistency with which these themes are expressed is troubling.

In the end I'm glad that I watched 'Black moon,' because I really do think it's an exemplar of horror, not least of all for the 1930s. But I also have a hard time imagining who I'd recommend it to, in recognition of its deep, deep flaws. In the best way, and in the worst way, this is a curiosity, and I don't know what more to say.

Black Moon (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Twenty-plus years after her parents were murdered in a voodoo ritual, a woman (Dorothy Burgess) travels back to the native land where the people there want her to start up as their leader. The woman's secretary (Fay Wray) wires her husband (Jack Holt) to come and try to save her but it might be too late. This forgotten horror film from Columbia falls somewhere between WHITE ZOMBIE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE so fans of those two films will certainly want to check this out. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not a major fan of all three films as I think they all have a great atmosphere but in the end their stories just aren't strong enough to carry the films for me. There's a lot of stuff that does work here with the biggest plus being the atmosphere created by the director. We really get the feeling as if we're on this island surrounded by the strange locals and in the middle of something evil. There's no fog machines but that doesn't keep Neill away from delivering the goods as the dark tone of the film also hits on something that the Val Lewton films would eventually do and that's the use of shadows. Another plus is some fine cinematography as well as a nice performance by Holt. Wray, the original Scream Queen, is good too, although, as usual, she isn't given enough to do. What doesn't work, for one, is the performance of Burgess who is easy on the eyes but her character is badly underwritten. Another problem is the actual screenplay that really doesn't offer any twist or turns up until the very end when the movie does go in a direction that you wouldn't normally expect.

Jack Holt is 17 years older than Dorothy Burgess who plays his wife in this shambles of a movie. And besides the usual misogyny, you can add old world white supremacist racial stereotypes to boot.

Add the cringe worthy dialog and how a woman cannot make a decision without some stupid old white fart of a sloped headed backwards facing knuckle dragging Neanderthal grabbing her arms to misdirect to what it's moth eaten two braincells thinks she should do.

There are sooooo many bad issues with this movie that it would takes me hours on end to just scratch the surface, much less get into detail that most uneducated empty headed maganuts will never comprehend.

Old world yes, worthy of watching Hell to the No.

This is a tense and exciting little film. I was surprised how quickly and effectively the movie manages to ratchet up the tension without wasting time on endless setup, giving us just enough to know the characters and get involved with the situation. There is a very effective and ominous tone struck with the opening frames and nicely developed as the cast heads to an island that is cut off from help. Good performances and cinematography help greatly; for once we have a juvenile who is not annoying and smart leads in Fay Wray and Jack Holt. Dorothy Burgess does a good job with a complicated part. This plays like a forerunner to Val Lewton's classic I Walked with a Zombie, though there are no zombies present here. Worth catching the beautiful print on TCM.