Isn't it unfortunate that so many fine films from the early days of Hollywood have slipped into obscurity. I watched this 1934 gem yesterday and was quite taken with the moody,sombre atmosphere that pervaded throughout the entire movie. Directed by Roy William Neill (a VERY underrated director), whose other Columbia efforts during this period include THE NINTH GUEST and Karloff's THE BLACK ROOM, this tale of voodoo possession and blood sacrifice is filled with some very chilling scenes.
The film tells the tale of Juanita Perez Lane, a native of San Christopher island (somewhere off the coast of Haiti), whose mother was a white voodoo priestess. Raised on the island by the same black nurse who had raised her mother, Lane leaves the family plantation in the hands of her uncle to move to New York and marry Jack Holt (a wireless radio manufacturer). They have a daughter age 3 and live a nice life until Juanita decides to go back to the island for a "holiday". Holt sends her off in the comapny of their daughter,a nurse and Holt's secretary (Fay Wray).
Not long after arriving, the natives become restless because of her return (they felt she never should have left in the first place). The care of the daughter is taken over by a black nurse (another voodoo follower). Holt is summoned by Wray and arrives just in time to discover the charred body of the family nurse lying beside a lava pit--obviously burned alive as a sacrifice.
As things progress, it becomes clear that Holt and Wray and the little girl are not going to be allowed to leave and that the uncle will be killed by Juanita so she can have control of the plantation. Holt and Wray manage to escape before being offered up, and get to a nieghboring island for help. They return just as Juanita is about to sacrifice her own daughter to appease the voodoo priest, who blames her for the other's escape. Holt ends up shooting his own wife to prevent the sacrifice and manages to escape with Wray, his daughter and the boatman, played very nicely by Clarence Muse.
I hope that someday, a retrospective of Neill's work is given and that the studios realize his contribution to movie making. This is a tough film to find, but the Hangman gives this one a big thumbs up. BLACK MOON from 1934 Columbia.
The film tells the tale of Juanita Perez Lane, a native of San Christopher island (somewhere off the coast of Haiti), whose mother was a white voodoo priestess. Raised on the island by the same black nurse who had raised her mother, Lane leaves the family plantation in the hands of her uncle to move to New York and marry Jack Holt (a wireless radio manufacturer). They have a daughter age 3 and live a nice life until Juanita decides to go back to the island for a "holiday". Holt sends her off in the comapny of their daughter,a nurse and Holt's secretary (Fay Wray).
Not long after arriving, the natives become restless because of her return (they felt she never should have left in the first place). The care of the daughter is taken over by a black nurse (another voodoo follower). Holt is summoned by Wray and arrives just in time to discover the charred body of the family nurse lying beside a lava pit--obviously burned alive as a sacrifice.
As things progress, it becomes clear that Holt and Wray and the little girl are not going to be allowed to leave and that the uncle will be killed by Juanita so she can have control of the plantation. Holt and Wray manage to escape before being offered up, and get to a nieghboring island for help. They return just as Juanita is about to sacrifice her own daughter to appease the voodoo priest, who blames her for the other's escape. Holt ends up shooting his own wife to prevent the sacrifice and manages to escape with Wray, his daughter and the boatman, played very nicely by Clarence Muse.
I hope that someday, a retrospective of Neill's work is given and that the studios realize his contribution to movie making. This is a tough film to find, but the Hangman gives this one a big thumbs up. BLACK MOON from 1934 Columbia.
