Although lumped in with the horror genre, I Walked With a Zombie is much more of a love story with a voodoo backdrop.
Betsy Connell (Francis Dee), a Canadian nurse, is sent to tend to Jessica, the wife of sugar baron Paul Holland (Tom Conway) in the West Indies. Jessica acts as if catatonic. Traditional Western medicine says that she suffers due an injury to her spinal cord. After exposure to the island’s voodoo culture, Betsy suspects that there is something more sinister at work. What follows is an ethereal story of love, despair, and resentment.
Director Jacques Tourneur (Cat People) and cinematographer J. Roy Hunt create a dreamlike atmosphere populated by unfortunately bland characters. Aside from Jessica, most of the major players in the story spout stilted dialogue that threatens to take the viewer out of the moody proceedings. Although lumped in with the horror genre, I Walked With a Zombie is much more of a love story with a voodoo backdrop. There are some undeniably creepy moments — mainly involving the leering Carrefour (Darby Jones) — but the majority of the film revolves around Betsy and Paul’s doomed relationship.
I have to applaud the script’s progressive attitudes toward slavery and colonialism. Even though they’re as subtle as the horror elements in the film, there’s a more than a hint of misery when it comes to the island locale’s past.
Viewed through today’s idea of zombies, a film entitled I Walked With a Zombie might conjure images of shuffling, brain-eating undead creatures. But this 1943 movie uses the original, pre-Night of the Living Dead version of zombies. That is, corpses reanimated by magic. In this case, voodoo. Those expecting the modern take on zombies will likely come away underwhelmed unless they can also appreciate the elements of old-school horror.
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
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