Watch free White Zombie 1932

A young couple arrive in Haiti to marry, but a jealous plantation owner makes a deal with a sinister mill owner, played by Bela Lugosi, who controls an army of silent, staring workers raised from the dead. Made a year after Lugosi's most famous role, it's often called the first feature-length zombie film, and its zombies are nothing like Romero's: mindless servants, not flesh-eaters. The pace is slow and stagey, but the images stick, especially the sugar mill scene and Lugosi's hypnotic hand gestures. It draws on William Seabrook's 1929 travel book The Magic Island, itself now out of copyright.

Watch it if you're a Bela Lugosi fan, or you want to see the very first zombie movie.

Why is it free?

Its US copyright lapsed: US law at the time required a copyright notice on release and a renewal after 28 years, and the owners didn't keep it up, so it entered the public domain.

• Wikipedia: White Zombie (1932)
• Wikipedia: films in the public domain in the US

Last checked 2026-11-01; re-checked every week. Own rights in this film or this copy? Email hello@movietrailer.channel and we'll take it down while we look into it.

Questions

Is it legal to watch White Zombie for free?

Yes, in the United States. Its US copyright lapsed: US law at the time required a copyright notice on release and a renewal after 28 years, and the owners didn't keep it up, so it entered the public domain. We only play it to visitors in the US because copyright rules differ from country to country.

Where does this copy come from?

It plays from the Internet Archive, a non-profit library that hosts public domain films. We embed the plain original, never a restored, colourised or re-scored version, because those can carry new copyright.

How long is White Zombie?

1h 07m. Short enough for a weeknight.