I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Horror

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Cast: Frances Dee / Tom Conway / James Ellison

Plot

Hired to care for a disturbed woman on a mysterious Caribbean island, nurse Betsy finds herself conflicted by her fear of the nightly voodoo rituals that occur there and her forbidden love for her patient’s husband.

What I Liked

“The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictional.  Any similarity to any persons, living, dead, or possessed, is entirely coincidental.”  And thus opens one of the eeriest films of the 1940s.  At the same time that Universal Pictures’ cycle of classic monster films devolved from groundbreaking to trivial, RKO Pictures began putting out the less heralded but idiosyncratic and unnerving films of director Jacques Tourneur.

Generally speaking, low budget horror films of this era were notoriously lacking in depth or ambiance.  However, “I Walked With a Zombie” has a plot so classic it harkens back to the Bronte sisters and Poe with its weaving of dark, supernatural elements into a scandalous family drama.  At the same time its focus on the failure of modern psychology and medicine to explain spiritual depravity predates later film classics like “The Exorcist.”

Most important of all to this film is the ambiance.  Once Betsy arrives on the island, there is constant noise.  The island is constantly buzzing, moaning, and roaring with the sounds of insects, animals, drums, chants, and waves.  These noises are always indistinct, never belonging to one thing or person but to the entire setting, a fact that makes them all the more mysterious and ominous.  In this way and others, Tourneur shows us how the unseen can often be more frightening than what can be seen.  He knew that his audience imagination could create more terrifying images than anything his budget could produce on the screen.  The audience’s vision is almost constantly obscured by high grass, shadows, walls, and gates, allowing them to imagine what lies in wait just beyond our sight.

What I Disliked

It may be an underrated gem, but I don't want to give the impression that this movie is more than what it in fact is: a low-budget exploitation film that, despite being unique and well-executed, still has some of the limitations common to other movies of its kind.

If the plot to “I Walked With a Zombie” seems all too familiar, that’s because it is.  Most of the plot is a hastened, over simplication Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre… only with zombies (Eat your heart - or brain, if you prefer - out, Seth Grahame-Smith).  Of course the film’s use of literate themes was also mentioned under “what I liked,” and I do appreciate it.  It’s only that the human drama of it all, especially the romance between Betsy and her employer, Mr. Holland, seemed rushed and underdeveloped.  Instead of being more creeped out by the fact that Holland is trying to seduce his comatose wife’s caretaker, we’re instead asking “Wait, when did these two get together?”  Of course, Ms. Bronte had hundreds of pages to develop her story, and the filmmakers of “I Walked With a Zombie” only just over an hour of footage.  So things have to move along quickly and they do.  This will no doubt be a bonus to some, who want to get to the voodoo and zombies and skip all the mushy stuff.  In my opinion, though, this film could have used more length and character development.

I did not recognize any of the actors from this movie from anything else.  While I didn’t find any of them inept, nor did I find anyone particularly impressive.  This could have something to do with the fact that the two lead roles were somewhat bladly fleshed-out: the well-mannered, dark, mysterious wealthy man and the naïve young nurse who pines for him.  Not exactly groundbreaking stuff for the actors to work with.  They are adequate, but it’s no surprise that none of them wound up being a major star.

Most Memorable Scene

It’s the case with so many classic films, especially horrors, that they are best remembered for one scene that is sometimes more famous than the film itself.  “I Walked With a Zombie” is a prime example.  The film itself is a very good product put together with limited means.  Yet right in the middle of it is a scene that is nothing short of a masterpiece.  As Betsy travels through the wilderness of the island in a desperate attempt to locate the voodoo cures she hopes will save her patient, she finds herself lost inside a terrifying maze of woods, grass, and voodoo artifacts.  There is some fantastically intense camera work here that reminds me of later stylistic flourishes from the Coen brothers and Sam Raimi.  It all culminates with a brief, wordless, but undeniably chilling encounter that will scar itself irreparably on any viewer’s mind.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5