Horrorfest 2011: I Walked with a Zombie

Here’s another Val Lewton flick, this time directed by Jacques Tourneur, who helmed both the classic quintessential Lewton flick CAT PEOPLE , along with the noir classic OUT OF THE PAST and another great Horrorfest film from last year, NIGHT OF THE DEMON (or CURSE OF THE DEMON, depending on who you ask).

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE takes place in the West Indies as a nurse (Frances Dee) goes to work for a wealthy sugar plantation owner (Tom Conway) taking care of his invalid wife (Christine Gordon). Conway’s mom (Edith Barrett) runs a medical clinic for the natives and his brother (James Ellison) is a drunk, tortured by some family secrets.

At first the nurse is happy to be in paradise, but soon the ominous jungle drums start beating, she starts to hear local voodoo legends and learn of superstitions, and it starts to look like the woman she’s caring for just might be a zombie. As she falls for her boss, the nurse decides she must try anything to cure her patient, and turns to voodoo for help.

As usual with a Val Lewton production, a lot of the horror is implied in the overall tone and feeling of the movie and there’s not a lot of actually horrific stuff that occurs. However, things do ramp up after a fairly slow start, as the nurse descends further into the world of voodoo and comes upon some legitimately chilling moments and characters.

To the film’s credit, it takes the voodoo subject more seriously than you might expect of a film of this era. Also, because of its setting, the movie features a more diverse cast than most 40s horror productions, providing some nice moments for the beautiful Theresa Harris as the maid, the interestingly named Sir Lancelot as a Calypso singer, and, most memorably, Darby Jones as a startlingly blank-faced and staring voodoo disciple who may or may not be a zombie.

These aspects make the film more memorable than it would be otherwise. It’s my least favorite of the Lewton flicks I’ve seen so far, falling a little more flat and just feeling a little more bland overall than its predecessors. Still, there are some genuinely creepy moments and a good finale, so it’s still worth a watch.