Festival Report: BIFF Bradford After Dark – The Plague of the Zombies


When it comes to The Plague of the Zombies it’s never been one of my favourite. When I read though that it would be part of the Bradford After Dark event at the film festival I thought I’d give it a go. With the digital restoration that has been done I was looking forward to how good the print would actually look.

People are dying in strange circumstances in a small Cornish village and the doctor Peter Thompson is out of his depth in both understanding and dealing with the villagers who want answers. Calling on his professor Sir James Forbes he pleads for help. When Forbes arrives with his daughter it’s evident that something is not right in the village and all evidence points to the local squire who has arrived from Haiti after several years living there. As more die and Forbes own daughter seems to be succumbing to the squires evil intentions it’s up to Forbes and Thompson to work out what is going on before it’s too late.

It’s evident from watching The Plague of the Zombies this time that my taste in films has changed because this was a solid and entertaining piece of Hammer history. Those who are expecting either Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee to be on hand with this one will be let down though, although you’ll find some recognisable Hammer actors on screen such as Michael Ripper to make you feel at home.

On the big screen the restoration really does bring out the colours in the film and it’s nice to see such classics get such treatment. It’s obvious that there is a lot of work being put into making the films the best they can look so we can enjoy them to our fullest.

One thing to warn though, for those who see zombie and expect blood guts and gore you will be disappointed. This is the more classic zombie where the people who have “died” and are turned into the creatures by Voodoo. It’s quite a nice change to go back to this style of zombie instead of the flesh hungry creatures we often get inundated with in recent years. We don’t need to argue if these versions will run or walk, if anything we can save that argument for when I get to my Juan of the Dead review which will be coming soon.

I’d argue that this is not the best Hammer has to offer but if you want a classic horror tale like Hammer can do best then this may be the film for you, especially in its newly restored form. For people who want to complete their Hammer collection this will be a must buy, even if they have it in their collections in its unrestored form this will still be a must and can be pre-ordered here for when it is released May 28th. This film was a good if not rather sedate start to the Bradford After Dark event and went straight into the Reptile which many fans of horror will know was filmed back to back with this one, and of course will be my next review.

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