talisencrw Right off the bat, I previously had no idea that South Africa made any horror films, so, simply in that, I learned something.Over a long career (1968-99), this was one of only three cinematic works that director Austin made (all in the early 70's)--usually he did TV work--and in fact, production value-wise, it seemed like made-for-TV fare. Basically a vineyard/plantation with black, witchcraft-practicing slaves, and the owner harbouring a dark secret: A genius twin brother, who was discredited in the medical community to begin with, and then, since an almost-fatal brain injury suffered in an accident a year ago, basically insane and confined to the mansion's attic.It was decently made and, as late-night fare, perfectly acceptable. It could have been made a lot better in more capable hands. The underlying ideas were very interesting, though only decently carried out, and the climax was completely predictable, though no less enjoyable. I got my copy very cheaply, in Mill Creek's 50-pack 'Nightmare Worlds', and it's watchable, no better, no less.

Woodyanders Mad scientist Dr. Breckinridge Brattling (robustly overplayed with eye-rolling histrionic glee by Mark Burns) who resides in a colonial vineyard in South Africa plots to steal people's souls and puts them in jars. Brattling embarks on a bloody murderous rampage in order to achieve his nefarious goal.While director Roy Austin manages to create a decent amount of reasonably spooky atmosphere and makes nice use of the desolate South African countryside, this movie nonetheless proves to be a pretty tedious chore to sit through due to the sluggish pace, a meandering narrative, Lionel Friedberg's flat cinematography, and the overly talky script by Marc Marais. Fortunately, the solid acting from a competent cast keeps this picture watchable, with especially praiseworthy work from Shirley Anne Field as the sweet Mary Anne Carew, Margaret Inglis as stern matriarch Lady Brattling, Dia Sydow as timid servant Lina, and, in an especially lively turn, Lynn Maree as creepy old hag Annie. Moreover, this film does finally come to exciting life during the thrilling climax, but it's a classic example of too little too late. An okay diversion.

Aaron1375 I got this film in a twelve pack of films that are zombie themed. This one should not have been included as there is nothing about this film that is zombie oriented. It is more mystery, but that is not very true either as it is not very difficult to see where this film is going if one has seen more than a couple of horror films during their lifetime. It was somewhat interesting at first though as I was wondering what was going to be happening as I still held out hope there would be zombies or something within the film. Not so late in the film, though, it became apparently clear how it would end so I spent a good portion of the film continually looking at the clock counter on the DVD player hoping it would hurry up and finish. Suffice to say, it was worth one look so I could properly review, but not a film I would ever care to pop in the player again during my lifetime.The story has a plantation in Africa experiencing some problems. It is occupied by a mother and her two sons. One of the sons seems to be experimenting on animals while the other tries to keep the plantation together as a couple of people end up dead. This brother also has a fiancé coming in from London and his mother does not approve at all. More strange things happens as the film races to its somewhat bizarre, but thoroughly predictable ending.The movie was just dull, as I said it started out interestingly enough as a man works on a monkey, but then there are just a lot of dead scenes that really add nothing to the plot. As the movie progresses it becomes less and less interesting as it is so obvious what is going on so all you are waiting for at this point is the ending to pop up. Thankfully, it did finally come on screen and I was more than happy to eject it and put it away. That being said, it is not terrible as the acting is decent, just to dull and predictable a story for my tastes.

HumanoidOfFlesh The title of this film is very misleading,because there are no zombies here.This South African horror deals with science and magic.The script is actually decent,but the film is really boring and dull,and there's no gore at all.To be fair,there are two or three suspenseful scenes,and the ending is quite exciting-this is enough for me to classify "House of the Living Dead" as a decent horror film,so I'll give it 5 out of 10.