| Synopsis
| - Deep in the bayous of Louisiana, a Voodoo cult performs a macabre ceremony. A man named Simon Garth is strapped to a slab of rock. Attending the ceremony are a group of naked dancers and an obese gardener named Gyps. The mambo prostrates herself before Simon's body holding a knife. She drives the knife down, but rather than stabbing him with it, she actually cuts the ropes binding him to the rock. She shouts for him to "Go" before the others take notice of what she has done. Gyps and the other practitioners do indeed notice their mambo's betrayal and give chase. As Simon races through the swamps, his thoughts cast back to recent events.
Flashback:
- :Before becoming a victim of the occult, Simon Garth was the senior partner of Garwood Industries, the South's leading coffee distributor. While leaving his lavish estate one morning, he found his gardener, Gyps, complaining about his duties. Garth admonished the surly man, and warned him to shape up. Garth's twenty-three year old daughter, Donna, raced out of the house to ask her father something, but he had already left. Stopping before Gyps, she noticed that the man was carrying a piece of root. Gyps told her that it was called "Johnny-The-Conqueror" root and it was a piece of Voodoo gris-gris. He kept it as a charm because he felt it might bring him good luck.
:At Garwood Industries, Simon Garth presided over a board meeting. Arguing with his partner, Brian Stockwood, he demanded that the company should increase production. Stockwood tried to reason with Simon's irrational behavior, but Garth grew even more violent, grabbing Stockwood by the neck, calling him a "joke".
:Back at the mansion, Donna decided to go skinny-dipping in the pool. Gyps took notice of this and approached her. Shocked, Donna spun around, having no idea that Gyps was watching her. Before Gyps could press his amorous advances even further, Simon showed up and began punching the gardener in the face. He fired him and swore that if he ever saw him again, he would kill him.
:That evening, an inebriated Gyps returned to the Garth estate for revenge. He smashed an empty whisky bottle across the back of his head, and tied him up. He brought him out to the Voodoo camp deep in the swamp and offered him to the practitioners as a human sacrifice.
:What neither Garth nor Gyps knew however, was that the Voodoo mambo was actually Layla, Simon Garth’s office secretary. She was secretly in love with him, and could not bring herself to take his life, so she set him free.
Back in the present, Simon continues to run for his life. Gyps manages to circle around the swamp and catch up to him. He plunges a sacrificial dagger into his chest, killing him, and brings his body back to the camp. He digs a shallow grave, and dumps Simon's body inside. Gyps is still angry however, as he does not feel that Simon had suffered enough before dying. He grabs Layla, and while holding a knife to her throat, forces her to conduct a ritual that will raise Simon Garth from the dead.
The ritual works, and Garth rises from his own grave as an undead zombie. Almost immediately, he begins attacking everyone within his vicinity. One of the Voodoo cultists slips an amulet around the zombie's neck, and the creature stops moving. He hands a second amulet to Gyps and explains that so long as he possesses the Amulet of Damballah , he will have total control over him. Gyps orders the Zombie to go into the swamp until he is ready to summon him.
- Simon Garth, the Zombie, wanders through the swamps of Louisiana, until it is time to answer the call of his master, Gyps. Gyps is the former gardener to the Zombie's human alias, Simon Garth. In possession of the Amulets of Damballah, Gyps orders the Zombie to go into town to get him money.
The Zombie wanders into the French Quarter of New Orleans, but the revelers take little notice of him. Those who do react, merely think that he is simply another partier wearing an elaborate costume. The zombie attacks a pedestrian, but a policeman takes notice and gives chase.
The Zombie returns to Gyps' cottage, but the surly gardener is enraged to see that he came back empty handed. He then orders the zombie to attack a young woman at the main house. Gyps plans on staging her rescue from the zombie in order to gain her affection.
The Zombie breaks into the woman's room, but feels an uncontrollable urge to turn away. A part of Simon Garth's humanity recalls this woman as his own daughter, and he is incapable of killing her. The Zombie returns to the garden shed and strangles Gyps. He then wanders back to his own shallow grave and lies down.
- Donna Garth meets with New Orleans police detective Sam Jagger. Jagger takes her to the morgue where she identifies the body of Gyps, the gardener. The coroner reveals that the cause of death was strangulation. The only strange evidence found at the scene was one of the talismans of Damballah. Having little idea as to its true purpose, Jagger lets Donna keep the amulet. Donna concentrates on the item and thinks of her father.
Miles away, Simon Garth – the Zombie rises from his grave. He begins shambling back towards town when he encounters two hunting dogs. He throws one against a tree and then smashes the other repeatedly into the ground until it dies. The hunter comes upon the slaughtered dogs and runs in terror.
Back in town, Donna Garth leaves the police precinct and gets ready to get into her car. A heroin addict named Gene Griggs startles her and steals her handbag. He runs off and finds shelter inside of an abandoned building. Griggs is disgruntled to find that Donna only had three dollars in her purse, but he feels that he might be able to sell the talisman. He also finds a small .38 handgun and shoves it into his pocket.
Later that evening, Griggs stalks the French Quarter of New Orleans and accosts two pedestrians. He shoots them both, but one of them, a woman, is still alive. Griggs attempts to steal her necklace, but she scratches at his face. He finishes her off by shooting her directly in the face.
As Griggs turns around, he sees the Zombie standing before him. He has no idea that the Zombie is attracted by the presence of the talisman and Griggs tries to stab him to death. When this fails, he tries to shoot him, but the Zombie grabs Griggs' wrist and turns the gun back on him. A shot goes off and Griggs falls over dead. The Zombie begins shuffling away, leaving the amulet of Damballah lying on the ground next to Griggs' body.
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