''Voodoo Dawn'' is a 1991 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Steven Fierberg and starring

Tony Todd Tony Todd (born December 4, 1954) is an American actor who made his debut as Sgt. Warren in the film ''Platoon'' (1986), and portrayed Kurn in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1990–1991) and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Ni ...

Raymond St. Jacques Raymond St. Jacques (born James Arthur Johnson; March 1, 1930 – August 27, 1990) was an American actor, director and producer whose career spanned over thirty years on stage, film and television. St. Jacques is noted as the first African Americ ...

Theresa Merritt Theresa Merritt Hines (September 24, 1922 June 12, 1998), known professionally as Theresa Merritt, was an American actress and singer. She's known for her role in ''That's My Mama'' (1974-1975) and for her film roles in ''The Wiz'' (1978) and ''Bi ...

and

Gina Gershon Gina L. Gershon (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress. She has had roles in the films ''Cocktail (1988 film), Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat (1988 film), Red Heat'' (1988), ''Showgirls'' (1995), ''Bound (1996 film), Bound'' (1996), ''Face/ ...

. It was written by Jeffrey Delman,

Evan Dunsky Evan Dunsky is an American television writer, producer and director. Evan Dunsky wrote and directed the 1997 feature film ''The Alarmist'' based on the play '' Life During Wartime'' by Keith Reddin. He was one of the writers of the episode " Fish ...

, Thomas Rendon and

John A. Russo John A. Russo (born February 2, 1939), sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo, is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic film ''Night of the Living Dead'', which he co-wrote wi ...

, and produced by Steven D. Mackler. The film was adapted from the eponymous

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material * ...

horror novel Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. ...

by John A. Russo, known also as the screenwriter for ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven peop ...

''.

Premise

In the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

, a diabolical,

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

-wielding

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

priest (

) is busily turning

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

migrant farm workers A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

into flesh-eating,

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

slaves. However, his plans are disrupted by the arrival of two college students searching for a missing colleague who turns out to have been one of the priest's earlier zombie experiments.

Cast

as Makoute *

as Claude *

as Madame Daslay *

as Tina * J. Grant Albrecht as Tony *

Kirk Baily Kirk Baily (February 2, 1963 – February 28, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Kevin "Ug" Lee on the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Salute Your Shorts'', and later for his voice acting roles in animation and video games. Ea ...

as Kevin * Billy 'Sly' Williams as Miles *

Georgia Allen Georgia Williams Allen (May 12, 1919 – January 11, 2014) was an American actress. She was active from 1949 to 2006, beginning in local theater before progressing to both television and movie roles. Early life Allen was born in Beaumont, Texas ...

as Suzanne *

Gloria Reuben Gloria Elizabeth Reuben is a Canadian-American actress, producer, and singer. She is well-known for her role as Jeanie Boulet on the medical drama ''ER (TV series), ER'' (1995–1999, 2008), for which she was twice nominated for an Emmy Award, a ...

as Girl on Boat

Production

''Voodoo Dawn'' was shot in South Carolina.

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "an atmospheric supernatural thriller for genre fans". Nigel Honeybone of HorrorNews.Net wrote that it should be watched by horror fans based on the novelty value of having been written by Russo.

Peter Dendle Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and s ...

wrote in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia'', "Though acting and production value are solid, the script is outdated by about forty years and assumes we want to see more witch doctor than zombie."

References

External links

* * * 1991 films 1990s supernatural horror films 1990s English-language films Fiction about Haitian Vodou American supernatural horror films American zombie films Films about Voodoo Films shot in South Carolina Films based on American horror novels 1991 directorial debut films 1990s American films {{1990s-horror-film-stub