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nTitle: I Walked With a Zombie (1943)
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nDirector: Jacques Tourneur
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nCast: Frances Dee, Edith Barrett, Tom Conway, JamesnEllison
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nReview:
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nAs I work my way through all these old zombie movies Inrealize just how similar they all are. In my review for King of the Zombies (1941)nI mentioned how similar it was to White Zombie (1931), but here I am again tontell you that I Walked With a Zombie is yet another film that shares annalarming amount of similarities with Bela Lugosi’s film. They all share similarnscenes, situations, premises and characters. Again, we have a Voodoo Island, wenget to hear drums in the jungle, we get the black slaves, the zombie bride, thensugar mill…but I will say this, I Walked With A Zombie is superior to all ofnthese movies I’ve mentioned because it benefits from something that none of thenothers films had: producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur. Theninvolvement of these two talented individuals is what makes I Walked With AnZombie one of the classiest zombie movies ever made, I know that sounds like ancontradiction of sorts because who’d think a zombie movie could be classynright?
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nIn I Walked With A Zombie we meet a nurse named Betsy whonhas just accepted a job in the West Indies as a nurse taking care of the sick wifenof a rich land owner named Paul Holland. What ailment has stricken Mr. Holland’snwife? No one really knows, some think she’s affected by some sort of fever,nothers think she has a mental disorder, but if you ask the slaves they’ll tellnyou she’s been zombified! Who knows the truth of what really happened to Mrs.nHolland?
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nDirector Jacques Tourneur was a master in creatingnatmosphere in his films, I remember noting this when I first saw Night of theDemon (1957). There’s moments on that one that are genuinely creep where thensupernatural seems almost like a real thing. Tourneur was a director that knewnhow important shadows are, the importance of having the wind blow against thenleaves of a tree, the sound the wind makes and the importance of those eerienmoments of silence. I Walked With a Zombie has many moments such as these andnthough the film plays with themes and premises I’d seen before in similarnfilms, what set this one apart is the quality of the production, thenperformances, the cinematography; all these elements where top notch on InWalked With A Zombie in contrast to films like King of the Zombies and WhitenZombie, which can sometimes seem cheap and show their budgetary limitations. InWalked With A Zombie does not suffer from these problems, this is a top notchnproduction, or at least it felt that way!
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nA thing or two can be said about the titular zombie onnthis film, which is without a doubt in my mind the most beautiful zombie in allnof zombie zinema. I mean I’ve seen sexy zombies, I’ve seen gross out zombies, I’venseen many a walking bag of puss, but I’d never seen me a more beautiful zombienthen the one depicted on this film. Edith Barret played the zombified bride,nshe doesn’t speak a word throughout the entire film, but she looks hauntinglynbeautiful. I love the way she looked as she walked in her white dress, the windnblowing on it…she has a haunting almost ghost-like quality to her. Tourneurnreally made an effort to make her feel as if she was a shell of a human being,nan empty vessel.
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nSame as with Night of the Demon and Cat People (1942) (anothernawesome Jacques Tourneur film) for a huge chunk of the film, we are nevernreally sure if the supernatural elements are real or not. I’ve always enjoyednthat about Tourneur’s films; he always questions religion and the supernatural.nEven if in the film eventually the supernatural ends up being real, for most ofnthe film the existence of the supernatural and its validity in the real worldnis always put in question and explored. In Night of the Demon the mainncharacter is an incurable skeptic, a guy who only believes in reason andnreality, the same happens in I Walked With A Zombie. Characters are alwaysnquestioning Voodoo. Is it real? Should we be afraid of it? Is it real only innthe mind of the people who believe in it? I love the fact that a film from then40’s explored these themes with such honesty, this is a recurring thing innTourneur’s films.
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nBut in the end, even though this is a film that putsnbelief systems in question, the film doesn’t forget that what we want is to benspooked, and that it does well. There’s this amazing sequence where Betsy goesnwalking with the zombie girl and she immerses herself, slowly but surely, innthe world of Voodoo. Great sequence, the imagery there is unforgettable for me,nthe mood, the ambiance, undisputed; Tourneur really was a master creating trulyneerie moments. So in conclusion, this one is a real find. I Walked With AnZombie is one of the best of its kind. Out of all these zombies in a voodoonisland films, I’d say it can only be challenged by White Zombie which is stillnmy favorite because it’s more of a horror film. Even though this JacquesnTourneur zombie film has its spooky moments and memorable imagery, I’d see itnas more of a tragic love story then a horror film. Still, this is without andoubt, a gem of Zombie Zinema, not to be missed!
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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