2
(nothing direct)
7
(mild violence)
3
(see this only if you want Mantan Moreland comedy)
Horror comedies are hit and miss. I’ve seen some good ones, but I’ve seen some stinkers, too. "King of the Zombies" isn’t the worst of the lot, but it’s nothing fantastic either.
A plane crash leaves 3 men stranded in an island jungle. The island is controlled by a man with a legion of zombies under his control. As the heroes dodge the undead they search for a way to communicate with the outside world and hunt for clues to the whereabouts of a U.S. admiral that vanished in the same location.
The majority of the movie is kind of a thriller/mystery. It borders on horror with its inclusion of zombies, but even they have a natural rather than supernatural explanation. The comedy comes from Mantan Moreland as Jeff. He’s the servant of one of the other men (remember this is an OLD movie!) and more of a bumbling goofball than a debonair hero. He’s actually a lot like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. He’s easily frightened but finds himself in lots of frightening situations. He always has a goofy quip about the situation or over the top reaction to something.
I didn’t like Jeff much at first. His comedy seemed out of place since I wasn’t expecting a comedy, and the initial tone of this as a humorous romp isn’t set up very well. I just thought Moreland was overplaying his part there for a while. It wasn’t until I realized that he was really the star attraction that I felt like I could invest my interest in him, even though that was a ways into the movie. Once I settled into the comedic elements I found myself enjoying him more. He has some very funny lines and is delightfully entertaining as a zombie comedian even if his actions make no logical sense when compared to the other zombies.
Unfortunately the more serious aspects of the film aren’t very good. The story doesn’t work all that well, and the atmosphere is nonexistent. This doesn’t give the comedic moments much to play off of.
Acting is passable though sometimes poor. Mantan is the only one really over the top, which, of course, is the point of the character. The others are deadpan with some selling the roles but some not. Maybe better depictions would have improved the story and atmosphere.
Morality
This is a very tame movie. There is no strong language, sex, or nudity, and little violence despite the struggles with zombies.
Spirituality
There is nothing supernatural here. The zombies are essentially hypnotized into being unwitting pawns of a voodoo master rather than undead creatures. The megalomaniacal villain dominates the wills of men in a way reminiscent of demonic possession.
Final Thoughts
This movie has its fans, and I will agree that Mantan has some very amusing moments; I just didn’t feel like the comedy is enough to carry the rest of the dull story. Only if you really like black-and-white horror-comedy should you put any effort into checking it out.
Buying Guide
"King of the Zombies" returns fewer releases with a search than some of the other old public domain movies. I found a king-sized mountain of releases rather than a deity-sized one.
There are still a number of nearly identical releases to sort as well as a zombie-inducing pile of various combo packs. The only thing that stood out to me was a DVDTee package. I did find a Blu-ray combo pack.
All of the releases list the same specs, mention no extras, and say nothing about any remastering. So I'll assume that the presentations are exactly the same as what I'll be describing in my details in the next section.
The DVDTee package offers a shirt along with the movie. The DVD itself doesn't appear to offer anything more than any of the others.
The Blu offers no HD or anything else special. It just uses the storage capacity of Blu to hold more movies.
Final Recommendation:
Unless you want that shirt just grab up whatever bargain best fits your wallet. I've been pleased with the 50 Horror Classics pack.
I got mine in a 50 pack of “Horror Classics” which seems to be the standard print of the film.
Video
1.33:
There is no widescreen version. There are a few problem spots but overall this just has the typical trash and low image quality of an unrestored old movie.
Audio
2.0 mono:
The audio offers the standard white noise but is clear enough to understand all the dialogue.
Packaging
This particular disc is housed in a cardboard sleeve contained in a Velcro-fastened box though it's been repackaged in plastic. You can read about the set as a whole in great detail in the Horror Classics (50 pack) guide.
Extras
There are none.