Zombies

I Walked With a Zombie (1943)

Betsy Connell (Frances Dee), a beautiful, young nurse, takes a job on the island of St. Sebastian in the West Indies to care for Jessica (Christine Gordon), the wife of a plantation owner (Tom Conway).  Is the wife sick or is she a zombie, and will her cure come from medicine or voodoo? 

Quick Review: Horrible title, but a good film.  Go back to a time before George Romero, before zombies were brain eating undead, and you've reached I Walked With a Zombie.  The frights are few, but present, and the atmosphere is creepy.  For such a low budget film, the acting couldn't be better, the pacing is excellent, and occasional scenes could be plucked out, framed, and hung on the wall as art.  There are few good voodoo films, and this is one of the best. 

It is poetic, subtle, and shares a writer with the classic 1941 The Wolf Man.  The film bears the mark of its director, Jacques Tourneur, and its producer, Val Lewton.  Known for their sophisticated horror, where "eerie" wins out over jump scares, they had worked together the year before on Cat People.  It is probably not a film you'll want to see over and over, but at least one viewing is required.

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