King of the Zombies

The film that I chose to watch and analyze was King of the Zombies by Jean Yarbrough. In this movie, a man by the name of Mr. Bill sets off to the Bahamas with his servant Jeff, and a the pilot of their plane. While on their way to the destination, the plane falls off course and crashes on an island in the Caribbean. The three men are greeted and welcomed by a man named Dr. Sangre whom they suspect is hiding something. Jeff one night, while in the kitchen with the staff learns about the living dead or zombie presence in Dr. Sangre’s house. Mr. Bill and the pilot have some doubts about the zombies, but soon find out the truth. Dr. Sangre turns people into zombies to try and get information out of a United States admiral he had captured.

One of the theoretical lenses from the class that is also portrayed in this particular film is race and ethnicity studies. In this film a lot of the characters and situations play on race. During the time of when this movie was made, African Americans had certain stereotypical roles. With that being said, we see African Americans in this film as servants, cooks, and just as the help in general. Around (13:52) we see Jeff in the kitchen meeting the African Americans working in the kitchen. We also see the zombie characters being African Americans. I don't necessarily see this film as racist at all, Jeff, one of the main characters is African American and has a very substantial role and is able to make a name for himself.