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André Morell, Diane Clare, John Carson, Brook Williams, Alexander Davion ... see more see more... , Jacqueline Pearce , Michael Ripper , Dennis Chinnery , Ben Aris , Louis Mahoney , Jerry Verno , Tim Condren , Roy Royston , Marcus Hammond

A wonderfully atmospheric outing from Hammer Films, who diverged from their often successful variations on Universal's classic monsters into the world of zombies, a genre which had yet to receive its ... read more read more...infusion of terrifying new blood with the 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead. The plot, which owes a debt to the Bela Lugosi chiller White Zombie, involves a mad Cornish squire, who solves an annoying labor crisis in his tin mines by turning local villagers into voodoo-controlled zombies. Dr. Thompson (Brook Williams) and his daughter Alice (Jacqueline Pearce) soon discover the unpleasant nocturnal habits of the shambling undead slaves -- including their tendency to go on murderous rampages when not directly under the squire's control. At the request of Alice, Sir James Forbes (André Morell) arrives on the scene to investigate. The superb script by Peter Bryan employs an interesting subtext about the rift between the British aristocracy and the exploited working class, but the film is less a political allegory than a spooky, atmospheric horror opus that ranks among Hammer Films' finest. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

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49% liked it

1,911 ratings

Critics

67% liked it

6 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: John Gilling

Release Date: January 1, 1966

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DVD Release Date: November 2, 1999

Stats: 142 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (142)

  • mjgildea
    May 18, 2011
    mjgildea
    Plague of the Zombies offers up the voodoo brand as opposed the rotten diseased brand of zombies. Not my preference, but combine some creepy zombies with that trademarked Hammer gothic atmosphere and you're in for a good time. The zombies are sporadic but they're pretty nasty whe... read moren they actually do show. Plague of the Zombies has some legitimately disturbingly-done moments (the would-be rape scene, Thompson's nightmare) that pay off for the slow buildup. But as with a good many Hammer movies, the last 15 minutes make up for it. And for as much of a tightass as Andre Morell came across as in the first 15 minutes, he kicked some serious ass in the end.
  • DrBenway
    October 9, 2010
    DrBenway
    Up until the late 60's, zombies were almost exclusively depicted as the brainwashed, lumbering slaves of evil voodoo masters, I believe. They are as such here but also shown as foul, cadaverous creatures risen from freshly dug graves. Old school spooky atmosphere with voodoo d... read morerums thrown in only the way Hammer Studios could do. It's awfully British, but fun nonetheless.

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  • rubystevens
    October 8, 2010
    rubystevens
    tcm fans! hammer horror featured every friday night in the month of october! set the dvr!
  • flixsterman
    July 30, 2010
    flixsterman
    Prototypical Hammer fare. Equal parts goth, gore, camp and shtick. A milestone in the evolution of the 'zombie flick', fans of Hammer Studios will love it, most others won't.
  • kenstachnik
    July 19, 2009
    kenstachnik
    The most dignified Zombie film of all time and one of Hammer's best works.
  • sayers1977
    March 13, 2012
    sayers1977
    In an age where we've been inundated with zombie films in recent years and we now have the excellent series 'The Walking Dead' this film comes across as a little quaint and the zombies aren't really used to their full affect (they're brought back from the dead to work a tin mine!... read more) but this is still the peak of Hammer's visual style period and the film looks great. The zombies also make quite an impression on their first appearance and the dream sequence is effective. A shame that Lee and Cushing aren't involved but Morell brings quiet authority to the lead and Pearce is great but underused. Unfortunately Clare is a stilted heroine but at least this makes her convincing when she is hypnotized!
  • HenrikSchunk
    March 21, 2011
    HenrikSchunk
    A very early "Zombie" movie, pre-dating Romero and the lot. An evil plot in a remote village summons the dead, which go on and to menace the living. A solid Hammer Horror film and one of the best from their C-Line productions (Those which are not part of a franchise or have a sta... read morer lead). The editing and direction is far better than many other Hammer movies.
    Andre Morell is a very good lead, believable in his determination and vigour, but yet still emotional and paternal. The rest of the cast is rather typecast (with the Sergeant standing out) and they serve their purpose, including the slightly bloodless villain.

    Unlike many other, even most modern zombie movies, the reason why the undead walk the earth is quite sensible, which might surprise some and I give Kudos to the storywriter for that.
    The movie mentions the "Voodoo" phenonemon here and there, and the manner in which they "portray" the "Haiti" culture is typical Hammer camp and was really putting me off, you'll know it when you see it. Other than that, we have the usual British horror splendour of the remote and gloomy countryside, lush Victorian interiors and costumes, lovely. Unlike many other classic horror movies, this one still has its creepy moments, which it might owe to the fact that undead have always been some to scare me, but I found that rather thrilling.

    I recommend this to every Horror enthusiasts and Zombie film expert to be.
    All lovers of classic movies, British Horror and Hammer should be in a for a treat as well of course.

    take care
    HX
  • Hellshocked
    March 24, 2009
    Hellshocked
    Severely underrated and woefully underwatched, "Plague of the Zombies" ranks near the top among Hammer's best.

    A lot has been made about its influences on Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", but the hallucinatory sequence in the graveyard may very well have given birth to Lucio... read more Fulci's horror career.
  • silentbob66
    November 22, 2008
    silentbob66
    When a medical professor gets a letter from a old student being told about weird deaths inside a small english town he decided to pack up and go there himself to investigate what he finds can not be explained with normal medicine seems the dead are riseing and someone in the town... read more has been practiceing black magic now the former student doctor must try and stop the outbreak before more people get killed, The one and only attempt of a zombie film by Hammer Studios i found to be a good one little bit outdated but still worth a watch if your a fan of all zombie movies or the stuff that came out of Hammer Studios
  • johnxerxes
    February 4, 2012
    johnxerxes
    Let's just get this out of the way, Andre Morell IS Quartermass! Though not in this one, well, he does get in a few pits, so... Anyway. This is a classic voodoo zombie flick. In that the bad guy is really snotty - what with his Peter Murphy sideburns, his creepy masks, his drum c... read moreircle of shirtless Hati hippies trapped in the basement, and a group of red coated fox hunting henchmen. Those guys real jerks - chasing after cute little foxes, knocking over coffins, and kidnapping women. Let's get back to the grave robbing, because there is A LOT of it in this movie. Almost more than in a Frankenstein movie. The police are wonderful in this one too. Sir James Forbes is a great character and it was fun to watch him barely escape the fire at the end.

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Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz
October 10, 2010
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Lacks action. Full Review

Rob Humanick
October 21, 2007
Rob Humanick, Projection Booth

Unfolds as a series of intriguing contrasts: between life and death, male and female, tradition and modernity, science and voodoo. Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Michael Szymanski
September 21, 2005
Michael Szymanski, Zap2it.com

No review available.

Emanuel Levy
August 11, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Mark R. Leeper
December 7, 2004
Mark R. Leeper, rec.arts.movies.reviews

No review available.

Ken Hanke
July 30, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

No review available.

Derek Adams
June 24, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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