I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Genre: Horror
Duration: 69 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Jacques Tourneur
Stars: James Ellison, Frances Dee and Tom Conway
IMDb score:
7,0 (15.786)
Releasedate: 21 April 1943
I Walked with a Zombie plot
"See this strange, strange story of a woman whose lure set brother against brother; whose love caused hate—and whose beauty bowed to the will of an evil spell in whose power we must refuse to believe—EVEN IF IT'S TRUE!"
A woman in the West Indies becomes entangled with voodoo practices when she has to nurse a woman who appears healthy but shows no emotional reactions and is unable to speak. The locals think that the patient, named Jessica, is a zombie and that only their own wizard can help the woman. Betsy, the nurse accepts this advice and walks into the bush to ask the person in question for help.
Actors and actresses
Betsy Connell
Paul Holland
Wesley Rand
Mrs. Rand
Dr. Maxwell
Alma
Carrefour
Jessica Holland
Calypso Singer
Sabreur
Reviews & comments
Onderhond
-
- 87737 messages
- 13162 votes
Pretty poor.
I haven't seen much of Tourneur yet, but when I saw his name I already suspected that there wouldn't be too much horror in it. The title and posters might lead you to expect something different, but this is a film that should at most have some atmosphere.
You get that too, around the middle part. Then the film revives a little, but that is actually over quickly. The beginning and end are really tame, often look very angular and wooden and don't deliver much visually.
It is a nice curiosity of course, a pre-Romero zombie movie (where it still needs to be clearly explained what a zombie is), but other than that it is very little. Fortunately it is fairly short, so the boredom does not really persist, but afterwards there is relatively little that sticks.
1.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Kiekerjan
-
- 119 messages
- 106 votes
Surprisingly atmospheric RKO B horror. Tourneur succeeds in giving the images a dreamy touch. The decor and characters are often shrouded in darkness and the screen is, as it were, split in two by a strong contrast between black and white. The scene in the tower is beautifully designed. The sets are generally convincing and manage to reflect the exotic Caribbean well, despite the lack of budget. Frances Dee's voiceover initially creates a more mysterious and distant feeling, but at one point disappears completely. A bit of a shame, because this storytelling technique is perfect for these types of stories in which someone undertakes a long journey and steps out of his/her comfort zone. The plot is quite interesting, but is hampered by superficial and forced romance between Dee and Conway. Because of this, it usually leans more towards melodrama than horror. The ending wasn't too great either. A bizarre anticlimax in which the zombie is stabbed by her former lover, who is now manipulated through a voodoo ceremony? They are then chased by Carrefour, another zombie who apparently acts independently? I didn't really understand the meaning. It seemed like an important piece of information was missing, such as the presence of a bokor (kind of voodoo witch/magician). A little too much is left to the imagination and it comes across as rather sloppy. The motivations of certain characters are unclear. Anyway, certainly more entertaining than Cat People and The Seventh Victim.
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