This was a movie that I found when looking through Letterboxd for horror from 1934 for my Foray through the Fours. On the Internet Movie Database, it isn't listed as such there. They have it as a drama. Now I found this on Tubi so that made it easier. I'm not sure if there are different cuts or if footage is lost as I think the version that I watched was several minutes shorter.
Synopsis: a black voodoo priestess comes out of the Louisans swamps to take revenge on the white plantation owner who believes killed her husband.
We start in a boat coming down the river. Rowing is Jim Strong (Philip Ober). In front of him is Chloe (Olive Borden) and her mother, Mandy (Georgette Harvey). This older woman fled the area after her husband was lynched. He was accused of a crime that she claims he didn't commit. This has her out for Col. Gordon (Francis Joyner). He's the richest man in the area, owning a plantation and a business.
It then takes us over to meet him. He is visited by his niece, Joyce Gordon (Molly O'Day), and her cousin, Wade (Reed Howes). Wade is there to help with the business. It sounds like there are missing supplies, so he wants to figure out who is stealing it or what happened to them. This leads him to butt heads with Mose (Augustus Smith) and Hill (Jess Cavin). They both work for the colonel.
I should include here that Mandy is priestess from the synopsis. She is back to get her revenge. Mandy meets with Wade and tells his fortune for money. She then uses this to send her daughter into town. It is there that she is attacked by Mose. Jim and Wade come to her rescue. The latter falls in love with Chloe, but they can't be together since she is partially black. Jim doesn't mind and wants to marry her too. This causes Mose and Mandy to work together since she doesn't want her daughter to be with Wade. Mose wants revenge on him. Col. Gordon is also a good target due to his standing in the area as well.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this is a movie of the era. There are themes we will see past this, so I'm not shocked to see them starting this early. There is the idea of race and not marrying outside of people who look like you. We also get class issues between Col. Gordon and his family as opposed to Mandy along with those that live near the swamp.
Where I want to start then would be that I'm not fully sure I consider this to be a horror film. I'll still include it since it is listed that way on Letterboxd. If this was made today, it would be a drama. I get the idea that being made in the 1930s, featuring voodoo and a ritual being done to harm characters put it here. Plus, there is a dark reveal as to why Mandy fled the area. I'm not going to spoil what it is, but it makes sense and cleared up my confusion. I was glad for that. It is still problematic.
Let me explain more and as a disclaimer, I'm not going to give this a low score just because of it. I did want to give the reasons though. I don't have an issue with Col. Gordon being rich. He should figure out who is stealing from him and having Wade helping is fine. The problem is that they're looking at Mandy and Mose for doing voodoo as problem. They are the villains for it. The issue there is that they're both black. There is also Ben (Richard Huey), who is a butler. He sides with his boss and they have film being a simple character. What I'll say is that the time this came out, it makes sense. I'm also glad that they hired actors of color, so there's that as well.
I think then I'll shift over to filmmaking. The cinematography is fine. The best part is just capturing where this takes place. It is out in the country, close to bayous. I do love that. It also makes sense why supplies would go missing or if they're out doing rituals. It takes time to find and you'd need to know where you are going. We don't get much in the way of effects. We did see a guy wrestle with an alligator which I wasn't expecting. A perk in its favor comes with the sound design. We get drums that we're told are calling followers of voodoo to know they're being called. This is working with a low budget so none of this was bad in my opinion.
Let's then finish with the acting performances. I thought that Borden was fine as Chloe. She isn't given a lot to work with and she's there as the catalyst for Wade to find for her. Howes was fine. O'Day is interesting in her role since she questions something that gets revealed. This did come off as racist to me. I also don't know if the reactions make full sense. Joyner is fine as the colonel. I hate that Harvey is our villain, but I also think she plays it well. Other than that, Cavin, Smith, Ober and the rest of the cast worked for what was needed.
In conclusion, this one wasn't for me. This doesn't do enough to go into horror for me. It is more of a drama. There are problematic things story wise here that felt like they were done with a lack of just knowledge of the subject. The acting though was fine across the board. No one stands out aside from Harvey for me. I'm glad they did hire actors of color. This is also made well enough with the cinematography to capture where it is set and the drums to build atmosphere. Not one that I can recommend though unless you're watching horror from the era. In that case, it has an interesting place in history.
My Rating: 4 out of 10.
