SHMR #9: I Walked With A Zombie

I Walked With A Zombie (1943)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Starring James Ellison, Frances Dee and Tom Conway

So, this film came on the B-side of a "Horror Double Feature" DVD featuring this and The Body Snatchers. At first, I thought this was going to be a classic B-movie with typical "zombie" figures, but I was wrong.

In 2007, Stylus Magazine rated it one of the top 5 Zombie movies of all time, but see, there is one problem with their definition of "zombie." Their "zombie" was a woman who was driven mad and no longer spoke or did anything of her own free will. She was very much alive, but just not "here." See, I don't really consider this a zombie. A zombie, for the purposes of a zombie movie, is a resurrected corpse who roams the earth with the goal of consuming brains, right? See figures A and B for further

So, ignoring the completely misleading title, the film overall was good. I would not categorize it as a horror, more of a crime drama, really. Who drove Jessica mad? A young nurse, Betsy, comes to be a caretaker for Jessica Holland, who appears to have been struck mentally ill after a terrible fever. After Betsy arrives, it soon becomes clear, through the stories of the local people, that Jessica was actually driven mad and that the story of the fever is a cover for what really happened. Betsy really doesn't do much with this information, and focuses on trying to cure Jessica, because she loves her husband, Paul Holland, and wants him to be happy. There is a fun little rectangle of awkward relationship drama between Paul, Betsy, Jessica, and Paul's brother, Wesley. It's a fun drama to try to follow and makes the movie relatively interesting.

There is also an emphasis on the difference between the white Christians who have come to the island (St. Thomas, the setting of the movie) and the black natives who practice Voodoo. Betsy (white) gets herself involved in the voodoo practices a bit in her attempt to help Jessica, and it proves to be rather detrimental to everyone involved. Because the movie was shot in 1943, one would expect some racism, but really there wasn't much that would make a politically correct citizen of the 21st century to really squirm or be offended.

The movie goes on and you find yourself really getting into the plot, trying to figure it out and to see who "killed" Jessica, but in the end, you wind up rather disappointed- there isn't really a conclusion, more like the movie just ends, but not in a "to be continued" way. It's a bit of a let down, but not really enough to make the film not worthwhile.

Overall Rating: B+

Figure A: Zombies


Figure B: Not Zombie


...for those who would get this- May I suggest that this film be renamed "Living Dead Girl"?