The film was a follow-up to the horror-comedy King of the Zombies (1941) with Mantan Moreland reprising his role as Jeff and Madame Sul-Te-Wan returning as a different character. The film is both a sequel and a partial remake of the original film. Both films feature the concept of a mad scientist married to a zombie wife. In this film, the female zombie has retained her free will, and refuses to be controlled.
After the death of Max's (John Carradine) wife Lila (Veda Ann Borg), he holds a funeral for her. However, he has also turned her into a zombie. He is amazed when Lila show signs of free will and challenges him for control. In the excitement Dr. Keating (Barry Macollum) goes missing after entering a tomb which should not have been entered.
During dinner, Scott Warrington (Mauritz Hugo) finds a radio in Max's cabinet and figures out that it communicates to Hitler. Max learns of this and gags and ties up Scott. Lazarus (James Baskett), Max's right-hand man, finds a gun. While making soup with Rosella (Sybil Lewis), Jeff (Mantan Moreland) finds Scott bound and gagged in a closet, and he tells Jeff about the situation. Max discovers this and tries to flee the swamp. Lila and the hordes of zombies pursue Max, and both Max and Lila end up sinking into quicksand.
The film was a semi-remake of King of the Zombies. It was co-written by Edmond Kelso, who wrote the first film, and has a similar storyline: two men and a servant played by Mantan Moreland are guests in a strange house where a mad scientist with a zombie wife is working for Nazi Germany.[1]
It was meant to star Bela Lugosi, but Lugosi ended up not appearing. The movie was the first in a new six-film contract between Monogram and Moreland.[1]
The film was announced in April 1943 with Robert Lowery and Mantan Moreland attached.[2]
Filming was meant to start on 10 May 1943.[3] However this date was pushed back and John Carradine became the star.[4]
Reception
Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Peter Dendle wrote that it is the first zombie film to presume that audiences know what a zombie is. Dendle called it a remake of King of the Zombies and "stock fare from the Monogram horror mill."[5] Kino Lorber's Blu-ray "Revenge of the Zombies," a November 26, 2024, release, features a Tom Weaver-Gary D. Rhodes audio commentary providing background on the movie and its producers' negotiations with the Office of War Information and the Bureau of Motion Pictures, which disapproved of several elements of its script.
^Schallert, Edwin (Apr 21, 1943). "DRAMA AND FILM: Columbia Announces Unusual War Feature John Abbott, 'Discovered' by Flora Robson, Awarded Big Role in 'Saratoga Trunk'". Los Angeles Times. p. A17.
^"Of Local Origin". New York Times. Apr 24, 1943. p. 17.
^"Of Local Origin". New York Times. May 22, 1943. p. 10.
