White Zombie (1932)

A young couple (Madge Bellamy, John Harron) arrive in Haiti where they will be married. They arrive at the mansion of a plantation owner (Robert Frazer) who is in love with the girl and will do anything to take her away from her fiance, even if it means turning her into a zombie. Apparently the first feature film that used zombies as its narrative, this super low budget effort has one strong thing going for it and which likely is responsible for the film's large cult following. It's dripping with atmosphere, the air is thick with voodoo menace and a disturbing ambience. That in itself is enough to carry the film which is a good thing because it really has nothing else to offer. The acting (particularly that of Harron) is hideous beyond words, so wooden that it soon becomes difficult to tell who's a zombie and who isn't. Directed (if you can call it that) by Victor Halperin. With Bela Lugosi as the evil overseer of the zombie community.