I Walked With a Zombie

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Year:	1943
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Jacques Tourneur
Genre:	Zombie
Starring:	Frances Dee, Tom Conway, James Ellison
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036027/
Tagline:	Who said the dead don't walk?
Favourite line:	"Everything good dies here. Even the stars."

An early entry into the now over-burdened zombie genre is something of a tasty morsel.

The plot:
Nurse Betsy Connell, a young Canadian, arrives in Saint Sebastian in the West Indies to begin her new job taking care of Jessica, the wife of wealthy plantation owner, Paul. Though to Betsy all seems wonderful and idyllic, she is surprised to hear from Paul that this tropical paradise is not all that it seems, and that misery, corruption and human failings abound, soiling what should be a place of perfect harmony.
Mysteriously, Paul appears to be dallying, apparently reluctant for Betsy to meet Jessica and, when finally she does, it soon becomes apparent that that which afflicts her is far more serious than a mere fever, for the blight she is confronted with can only be the work of voodoo.
Surely?

An intelligent piece, thoughtful and studied, the focus here is on characters, not scares.
Some 72 years old at time of writing, we must confess to a sense of trepidation going into this because, here at Smell the Cult HQ, anything pre-1955 / 1960 can present something of a challenge. Not sure why, that just seems to be the cut off, where the stilted, theatre-like nature of performances captured on screen becomes too jarring. Here, though, the performances are solid, only occasionally veering into the wooden, awkward stylings so common to the period.
In tone, this has atmosphere by the bucket-load, the few sets used lit beautifully, particularly the outdoor sequences in the sugar fields which just drip with menace, and are far more effective than similar sequences, visually, in more modern (ish) fare such as Children of the Corn.
A short film, though not unusually so for the time period, this clocks in at around the seventy minute mark, in no way outstaying its welcome, and maintains the interest throughout.
This is also the film that features one of the most memorable faces in all of horror cinema history.



A fascinating glimpse at a horror film from an altogether different era of movie-making, and a film that frequently features in the top ten lists of best horror flicks of all time, this one is definitely worth checking out by aficianados. Not sure what casual film viewers may get out of it, but we would certainly not hesitate in dropping a recommendation onto its undead head.
Good stuff.