Zombies of Mora Tau (1957)

Before George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead introduced movie audiences to the modern concept of zombies, films that featured “the walking dead” were usually voodoo legend-laden affairs like I Walked with a Zombie. Such is the same with 1957’s Zombies of Mora Tau, although the film’s titular creatures exhibit new behaviors including swimming underwater.

Zombies of Mora Tau revolves around an attempt to retrieve diamonds from a sunken ship off the coast of Africa. A diving expedition arrives and sends a party ashore to visit with the elderly Mrs. Peters (Marjorie Eaton,) who owns an estate near the site of the shipwreck. Mrs. Peters warns the crew, financed by blowhard George Harrison (Joel Ashley) and led by handsome Jeff Clark (Gregg Palmer), that the diamonds are guarded by the now-undead crew of the ship that carried the treasure. Every previous attempt to retrieve the diamonds has met with the death of the treasure seekers. Blinded by greed, George and Jeff laugh off Mrs. Peters’ claims of hostile supernatural sailors.

Mrs. Peters’ attractive great-granddaughter, Jan (Autumn Russell,) also arrives at the estate just in time to meet the expedition members, including George’s wife, Mona (Allison Hayes.) After the women have a nearly fatal encounter with the supposed undead, Jeff and Jan investigate the grounds of the estate. They discover that these unusually strong men are, in fact, coming onto the property from the depths of the nearby bay. Still, Jeff and George press on with their attempt to retrieve the diamonds. Will they succeed?

Directed by Edward L. Cahn (Curse of the Faceless Man,) produced by the prolific Sam Katzman (The Giant Claw, Creature with the Atom Brain,) and released by Columbia Pictures’ B-movie unit, Zombies of Mora Tau never strives to be more than what it is expected to be. The simplistic plot, minimalist set designs, and relatively small cast confirm the film’s budgetary constraints. In what are supposed to be underwater scenes, you can see that a “diving suit” is clearly blowing soap bubbles.

But the movie does possess some superlative performances. Worth noting are that of Marjorie Eaton, as the foreboding Mrs. Peters, and Allison Hayes, who would later go on to star in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, who barely keeps herself under control as George’s undersexed wife, Mona. The rest of the cast delivers unremarkable but entirely acceptable work.

Those expecting the brain-devouring zombies of modern cinema will likely be disappointed by the bloodless assaults of these undead seamen. Fans of 1950s B-movies will get exactly what they expect. Women scream, faint, and fall in love at the drop of a hat. Men throw punches and ask questions later. And, regardless of gender, no one has a lick of common sense. But it’s still fun for those who know what they’re getting themselves into.