Black Moon

1934 "Love battling against the sorcery of the jungle!"
6| 1h8m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 15 June 1934 Released
Producted By: Columbia Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

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

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Columbia Pictures

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Reviews

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
rstef1 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.
MartinHafer This is NOT a particularly deep film nor will it impress film snobs. After all, it's about voodoo and human sacrifice! However, in a very low-brow sort of way, it is entertaining....and a bit dumb.The film begins with Dorothy Burgess banging away on tribal drums in her home in America. She is an amazing drummer, as her arm motions and the drum sounds aren't the least bit in sync--making her very special indeed (or it makes this a sloppy B-film). It seems that this lady is a bit nutty and longs to return to the Caribbean island where she'd lived years ago. However, her husband (Jack Holt) is apprehensive--especially when her family on the island is telling her NOT to come there. But, despite the warnings, this goofy acting lady goes to the island--and immediately resumes her involvement with a local voodoo cult! It turns out she is actually well-connected with these natives and everyone around her thinks she is nuts. However, she is far, far more disturbed than everyone thought, as this strange religion practices human sacrifice--and Burgess is more than willing to comply with their orders--leading to a really cool finale.In addition to Burgess and Holt, Fay Wray was also a star in this film---though she really didn't seem to have much to do. Her part was ill-defined and rather unnecessary. As for Holt, he was more wooden than usual. In fact, none of the performances were that good. But, because the film was so cheesy and silly, it did keep my interest.
BorgoPass 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.
bru-5 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.