The screenplay by Garnett Weston, based on The Magic Island by William Seabrook, is about a young woman's transformation into a zombie at the hands of an evil voodoo master.

[6] Other cast members include Joseph Cawthorn, Robert W. Frazer, John Harron, Brandon Hurst, and George Burr MacAnnan.

[7][8] Large portions of White Zombie were shot on the Universal Studios lot, borrowing many props and scenery from other horror films of the era.

[4] Hoping to cash in on the country's interest in voodoo, which began with William B. Seabrook's 1929 book on Haitian voodou, The Magic Island, the film, then titled Zombie, went into development in early 1932.

[17] To aid the Halperins, producer Phil Goldstone helped secure funds for White Zombie as he had for other independent films at the time.

[20] Other than Béla Lugosi and Joseph Cawthorn, the majority of the cast in White Zombie were actors whose fame had diminished since the silent film era.

Madge Bellamy recalled her collaboration with Lugosi positively, stating that he was very pleasant and that he used to kiss her hand in the morning when they would come on to the set.

[23] Actor Clarence Muse, who played the coach driver, claimed that some scenes were partly re-written or re-staged by Lugosi, who also helped to direct some re-takes.

These sets included the great halls from Dracula, pillars and a hanging balcony from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), the dark corridors from Frankenstein (1931) and chairs from The Cat and the Canary (1927).

The music in White Zombie draws from works including Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition", Gaston Borch's "Incidental Symphonies", and Hugo Riesenfeld's "Death of the Great Chief".

[27] Other pieces on the White Zombie soundtrack include music written by Richard Wagner, H. Maurice Jacquet, Leo Kempenski, and Franz Liszt.

The film begins with "Chant", a composition of wordless vocals and drumming, created by Universal Studios employee Guy Bevier Williams, a specialist in ethnic music.

[31][32] A malevolent voodoo and zombie master with telepathic powers,[33] this character is remembered as one of the actor's most striking performances[34][35] and has been the subject of various interpretations.

In her essay on White Zombie and the Creole, Gillian Phillips insists that Legendre's ethnicity is ambiguous and that he embodies both sides of Haitian history.

[37] Although his name suggests French roots,[40] Legendre is also presented as a foreign personality of indeterminate origin, who resents the way all sides of the society of the island have treated him.

[44] One of his most defining feature is his "sardonically evil smirk",[45] his hypnotic gaze and "long" hands, as well as a forked beard, the result of make-up work by Jack Pierce.

[56] United Artists had been distributing several independent and foreign films that year and bought the rights to release White Zombie.

"[61] Thornton Delehaney of the New York Evening Post wrote, "[T]he story tries to out-Frankenstein Frankenstein, and so earnest is it in its attempt to be thrilling that it overreaches its mark all along the line and resolves into an unintentional and often hilarious comedy.

[60] Harrison's Reports wrote, "[The film] is certainly not up to the standards of Dracula or Frankenstein, but the types of audience that go for horror pictures will enjoy it".

In Vanity Fair's "Worst Movie of 1932" article, Pare Lorentz wrote about a "terrific deadlock with Blonde Venus holding a slight lead over White Zombie, Bring 'Em Back Alive, and Murders in the Rue Morgue".

[65] The Cinema News and Property Gazette thought the film was for the "less sophisticated" and that the "exaggerated treatment of the subject achieves reverse effect to thrill or conviction".

[69] Edward G. Bansk, a Val Lewton biographer, identified several flaws in White Zombie, including poor acting, bad timing and other "haphazard and sloppy" film aspects.

"[70] Noting Legendre's statement that obedient zombies "work faithfully and are not worried with long hours," the film has also been seen as an allegory of class exploitation under capitalism and colonialism.

[72][73] In 1933 and 1934, the film experienced positive box-office numbers in small towns in the United States, as well as in Germany under the title Flucht von der Teufelsinsel.

Frankenstein and other contemporary horror films had grossed more in Providence, and the Indianapolis theater "wasn't too happy with White Zombie, but what audiences saw it were pleased enough.

[59] The film has been released on DVD from several companies – including K-Tel and Alpha Video — with varying image quality.

[88][89] Scenes from White Zombie have appeared in other films including Curtis Hanson's The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Michael Almereyda's Nadja, and Tim Burton's Ed Wood.

[93][94] In 2013–2014, there was a low budget short film remake of White Zombie released by YouTube Channel RagnBone and starring Scarlett Sheppard, Isaac Eastwood and Heather Hepburn as a character based on Legendre.

[97][independent source needed] There was also originally going to be a remake of White Zombie in 2018 by Blumhouse Productions under the leadership of Jason Blum but it is unknown whether those plans are coming in the future or not.

[103] Murder Legendre and other zombie sorcerers from the movies are characters in Frank J. Dello Stritto's 2023 novel Patron Saints of the Living Dead.