Drums o' Voodoo

Back in the 1920s-50s, many movie theaters in America were segregated. So, black patrons either weren't allowed into the places or they were forced to sit up i the balcony. As a result of this, many enterprising black entrepreneurs opened up black-only theaters as well as movie production companies. The problem was economic power...the production companies had very little money and couldn't afford better equipment and staff. As a result, most of these race films are, at best, second-rate. A few of these today are still very watchable...but you need to excuse the amateur acting and production values.

"Drums o' Voodoo" is one of these race movies. And, like many of the film, they were shown and re-shown over the years...and often the titles were changed to try to hide that the movies were not the latest products. It's also known as "Louisiana" as well as "She Devil". And, in the process, the films were often trimmed. The Alpha Video DVD apparently only runs 48 minutes. The YouTube copy I saw ran 52 and IMDB lists the run time as 70 minutes.

Auntie Hagar (Laura Bowman) is the local voodoo priestess in this Southern community. And, like voodoo typically is, it's a combination of traditional Christianity and African folk religion. Hagar and the Preacher have like interests...to keep the local community safe from evil. And, in this case, the evil is a pimp who has come to town to corrupt folks...in particular Myrtle, a woman whose mother came to an early death. And, according to Hagar, Myrtle will suffer the same fate if she isn't careful. That's also why she recommends her grandson NOT marry Myrtle. She also says the pimp will be blinded unless he leaves town! But the grandson as well as the pimp don't believe in voodoo and you wonder if the old woman's prediction will come true or not.

"Drums o' Voodoo" is a pretty bad film...and pretty silly. The acting is often poor and the dialog ain't so hot, either! But it also is quite entertaining because of its weird plot AND Laura Bowman's over-the-top performance. She's quite enjoyable as the priestess! But regardless, it's also a fascinating portrait into 1930s Black America...sort of like a time capsule...albeit a bad one!

Scheming no-good juke joint operator Tom Catt (Morris McKenny) tries to drag everyone he meets into his orbit of wild parties and sinful living. He's blackmailing local preacher Elder Berry (Augustus Smith), and he's chasing after good girl Myrtle (Edna Barr). The townsfolk turn to Auntie Hagar (Laura Bowman), an old voodoo priestess, to work her hoodoo on Tom Catt.

This all-black feature started out as a play, and the stage roots are evident from the limited locations and stagey production design. The performances range from awful to really awful, while top-billed Bowman, a noted singer and stage actress in her day, really lays it on thick as the voodoo priestess. Her small cabal of worshipers consist mainly of guys dancing around in their underwear. The print I watched was in terrible condition, and ran a scant 49 minutes, while I've read that some run 70+, and I've allowed for some loss in quality due to over-judicious editing. Still, I find it unlikely any more footage could have saved this turkey from being anything but a cultural relic.

Drums o' Voodoo (1934)

** (out of 4)

A sleazy man wants to turn a woman (Edna Barr) into a prostitute but her Baptist preacher uncle (Gus Smith) won't go for it. The only problem is that the man has something on the preacher and before long a voodoo priestess (Laura Bowman) gets in the middle.

DRUMS O' VOODOO was based on the Augustus Smith play and it was another example of an early race movie. That means that the entire cast and most of the production crew were black but the one person who wasn't was director Arthur Hoerl. He only directed four films in his career with this here being his last but he did write well over a hundred movies including the infamous REEFER MADNESS.

As far as this film goes, its basically shot like it was all performed on a stage and this here gives it a very stage-like quality. I must admit that there really wasn't anything special here outside of the cast all being black actors but at the same time the film was mildly entertaining for what it was. I thought the performances were a little better than you typically see in a race movie with the exception being Bowman who really goes over-the-top in her role.

Bowman, who got the main credit all over the promotional material, draws a few laughs with her performance but at the same time she's entertaining. The film doesn't have any visual style and there's not much of a set design to be impressed with. As I said, it appears the film was shot on a stage and there's no doubt that there wasn't much money spent. The movie is basically all dialogue with an extremely long and drawn out ending where both sides (Christianity and voodoo) battle it out.

The IMDB lists a 70-minute running time but I'm not sure how accurate that is. The print I watched was from Alpha Video and ran just 48-minutes and it certainly did seem like it was missing some footage with various jump cuts.

Hmmmmm. I don't know if I should rightfully rate or review this movie. I saw a terribly edited copy of it free on YouTube. It was so bad I know I missed entire portions including the end! Put it this way-- IMDb lists the runtime as an hour and ten minutes; the copy I watched had a runtime of just over forty-eight minutes.

"She Devil" aka "Drums O Voodoo" starred Laura Bowman, Augustus Smith, Morris McKenny, and Edna Barr. Laura Bowman played Hagar, a voodoo woman; hence the name of the movie. Augustus Smith played Amos Berry, a reverend at a church. It seemed like the church and the church goers were both at odds with Hagar and in harmony with her at the same time. It was as if they disapproved of her methods while not denying its place and its effectiveness.

Amos Berry had qualms with Tom Catt (Morris McKenny). Tom was an unrepentant disbeliever in both the church and voodoo. He was also a no-good criminal type who knew a secret about Berry that he threatened to reveal to the church thereby getting Berry run out. Tom would keep Berry's secret so long as Berry allowed him to have a relationship with his niece Myrtle (Edna Barr). As much as Berry loved being the reverend, he loved his niece more, and he couldn't bear the idea of Tom Catt being involved with her.

I really don't understand the pitifully low rating of this movie. I've seen a lot worse. The acting and stage set up is very much like a theater production instead of a movie production, but I'm not holding that against it.

By 1934 movie making was a lot further along than that depicted in "Drums O Voodoo," but it's not like it was decades behind. "Drums O Voodoo" had promise. It wasn't wholly realized, but it wasn't a total flop either.

Free on YouTube.