Friday night at the home drive-in: Curse of the Voodoo aka Voodoo Blood Death (1965) by #LindsayShonteff w/ #BryantHaliday #DennisPrice #LisaDaniely #RonaldLeighHunt #MaryKerridge #BerylCunningham #DannyDaniels "Blood Sacrifice of the Simbazi!" #Horror #UK #NotQuiteClassicCinema pic.twitter.com/EVrkqYFcu7
— Angus Kohm (@AngusKohm) November 23, 2019
Curse of the Voodoo aka Voodoo Blood Death (1965) is a movie I used to see on video store shelves. When I found a copy in a bargain bin on my recent travels, I was unsure if I’d ever seen it or not. I’ve looked at the box so many times over the years that I could convince myself that I’d rented or bought it at some point in the past. But seeing as it was 75% off the already low cover price, I decided to give it a try.
It was completely new to me, and considering that it only gets a 3.0 on the imdb, it’s a pretty slick little movie with good performances from some serious British actors ( Dennis Price, Lisa Daniely, Ronald Leigh-Hunt, etc.). To be honest, I was expecting a no-budget piece o’ crap that would have played as a second or third feature at drive-ins. Curse of the Voodoo is more like a low-rent Hammer film, and deserves a higher rating than 3.0.
Perhaps it’s the subject matter that causes many people to dismiss it. Movies about voodoo, and/or African safaris, run the risk of portraying antiquated racial stereotypes – and I’m sure Curse of the Voodoo contains it’s share. Incidentally, I’m not convinced that this movie actually has anything to do with voodoo. It’a about a British hunter who kills a lion (which is considered a god to an African tribe called the Simbazi) and may or may not be cursed because of it. It’s a psychological horror story, mostly set in England.
Considering the public outrage when an American hunter killed a protected lion a few years ago, this movie could serve as a cinematic salve for those who wished to see the hunter punished – like a good vigilante movie can calm the nerves of those angry about rampant crime waves.
Curse of the Voodoo aka Voodoo Blood Death (1965) is not a perfect movie, but it would have totally fit in with the B-horror films I used to see see on late night TV, and so l welcome it to the realm of #NotQuiteClassicCinema.
