Victor Halperin

The director of "White Zombie," considered one of the greatest zombie pictures ever made, Victor Hugo Halperin was prolific in the drama and horror genres during the 1920s and 1930s. At the start of his career, he wrote, directed, and produced such silent films as "School for Wives" and "When a Girl Loves." Then as the '20s gave way to the '30s, he helmed "Party Girl," a romantic drama (with sound) starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as a businessman who gets caught up with prostitutes. In 1930, he began teaming with his producer brother Edward. Their first collaboration was "Ex-Flame," about a married woman who loses everything due to her own insecurities, and a few years later, Edward produced Victor's horror film "White Zombie," which remains one of his best-known. Highly-atmospheric, it starred Bela Lugosi as a Haitian voodoo practitioner who transforms innocent people into zombies to do his bidding. The next year, he cast star Carole Lombard in "Supernatural," which was equally praised for its dreamlike pace and creative use of shadows. However, the film underperformed in theaters. While Victor helmed many more films until his retirement in the 1940s, the majority were not well-received, including the '36 "White Zombie" semi-sequel "Revolt of the Zombies." It did not feature Lugosi in any prominent role, but recycled footage of his eyes whenever the zombifying process was occurring. Interestingly, Victor's '39 directorial effort "Buried Alive" sounds like a zombie flick, but is actually a searing drama about prison employees.