I Walked with a Zombie is a
horror filmHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
directed by
Jacques TourneurJacques Tourneur was a French-American film director.-Life:Born in Paris, France, he was the son of film director Maurice Tourneur. At age 10, Jacques moved to the United States with his father. He started a career in cinema while still attending high school as an extra and later as a script clerk...
. It was the second horror film from producer
Val LewtonVal Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, who is best known for a sequence of nine brooding horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s....
for
RKO PicturesRKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As Radio Pictures Inc. and then RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the so-called Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
; the first was the very successful
Cat People, also directed by Tourneur. The film was edited by
Mark RobsonMark Robson was a Canadian-born film editor, film director and producer in Hollywood.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec, he moved to the United States at a young age. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles then found work in the prop department at 20th Century Fox studios...
, who would later direct
The Seventh VictimThe Seventh Victim is a horror film noir starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Kim Hunter , and Hugh Beaumont, directed by Mark Robson, and produced by noted film producer Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures.-Plot:...
and
The Ghost ShipThe Ghost Ship is a black-and-white horror film starring Richard Dix. The film is about a young merchant marine officer who begins to suspect that his ship's captain is mentally unbalanced and endangering the lives of the ship's crew. After he files a negative report with the corporation which...
for producer Lewton.
As was typical of many of Lewton's horror films, he was given the film's title and, with the aid of credited writers, he created the story around the title, in this case borrowing elements of
Charlotte BrontëCharlotte Brontë was an English novelist, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters whose novels are English literature standards...
's
Jane EyreJane Eyre is a famous and influential novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre...
. Also typical of many Lewton films, the
supernaturalThe term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are spells and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others...
is treated ambiguously, and it's never entirely clear how some events should be interpreted.
In 2007,
Stylus MagazineStylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
named it the fifth best
ZombieA zombie is a creature that appears in folklore and popular culture typically as a reanimated corpse or a mindless human being. Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou, which told of the people being controlled as laborers by a powerful sorcerer...
movie of all time.
Plot
Betsy Connell (
Frances DeeFrances Marion Dee was an American actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical, The Playboy of Paris...
), a Canadian nurse, relates in a voiceover narration how she "walked with a
zombieA zombie is a creature that appears in folklore and popular culture typically as a reanimated corpse or a mindless human being. Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou, which told of the people being controlled as laborers by a powerful sorcerer...
."
Betsy is hired to care for Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon), the wife of Paul Holland (
Tom ConwayTom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and the brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
), who is the owner of a sugar plantation on the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
island of Saint Sebastian. She arrives on Saint Sebastian, which is populated by the descendants of African slaves and a small white community of doctors and officials. Betsy is taken to Fort Holland, where she is told the story of how the Hollands brought the slaves to the island, learning that the statue of "Ti-Misery" in the Hollands' courtyard comes from the
figureheadA figurehead is a carved wooden decoration, often female or bestial, found at the prow of ships largely made between the 16th and 19th century.-History:Although earlier ships had often had some form of bow ornamentation A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration, often female or bestial, found at...
of a
slave shipSlave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves.The most important routes of the slave ships led from the northern and middle coasts of Africa to South America and the south coast of what is today the Caribbean...
— it is an effigy of Saint Sebastian with arrows in it.
That night at dinner, Betsy is joined by Paul’s half-brother Wesley Rand (James Ellison) and told about their mutual mother, Mrs Rand (
Edith BarrettEdith Barrett was an American film actress.-Biography:Edith Barrett was a granddaughter of 19th-century American actor Lawrence Barrett. She entered the entertainment industry at age 16 in a staging of Walter Hampden's production of Cyrano de Bergerac...
). While getting ready for bed, Betsy hears a woman crying from across the courtyard. She goes to investigate and ends up in the tower stairwell. She begins to ascend the stairs when she is cornered by Jessica Holland, who walks towards her like a ghost in a light robe, her eyes staring. Betsy screams for help, waking most of the household. Paul takes Jessica back to bed.
The crying was actually being done by Alma (Theresa Harris), a maid of African descent. Paul explains that the misery of life for the slaves and their descendants means that "they still weep when a child is born—and make merry at a burial."
The next morning, Betsy meets Jessica's
physicianA physician — also known as medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, medical doctor, or simply doctor — practices the ancient profession of medicine, which is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease or injury...
, Dr. Maxwell (James Bell), who explains that his patient's strange
sleepwalkingSleepwalking is a parasomnia or sleep disorder where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while he or she is asleep or in a sleep-like state...
condition is caused by an incurable tropical fever.
On a day off, Betsy goes to town and encounters Wesley Rand. While he drinks himself into a stupor, a
calypsoCalypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago.- Caribbean history :The islands had a core population of descendants of African slaves and workers and remnants of the indigenes, while colonial masters changed rapidly bringing settlers from France, Spain and the...
singer (
Sir LancelotLancelot Victor Edward Pinard was a calypso singer and actor who used the name Sir Lancelot. Sir Lancelot played a major role in popularizing calypso in north America, and Harry Belafonte has acknowledged him as an inspiration and major influence.Pinard was born in Cumuto, Trinidad, to a fairly...
) performs a song about how Jessica had an affair with Wesley but was struck down into a permanent state of shock when Paul would not let them leave. He stops and apologizes to Wesley when made aware of his presence. In the evening Betsy meets Mrs Rand, Wesley and Paul's mother, who is herself a doctor. At that moment the singer can be heard:
Back at the Fort, as the night draws in, distant drums of a Voodoo ritual underscore an argument between Paul and Wesley during dinner. Paul is trying to cut down on Wesley's drinking but his half-brother accuses him of trying to impress Betsy and of driving Jessica insane in the first place.
Later, Betsy is drawn to the sound of Paul playing the piano. When he sees her approach, Paul apologizes for bringing her to the island and admits that he may have been the cause of his wife's condition. Over time, Betsy has been falling in love with Paul who is a cultured gentleman in spite of his moody personality. She determines to make him happy by curing Jessica.
Betsy administers insulin shock to Jessica with no effect. Alma the maid then tells her of how a Voodoo priest brought a woman out of a similar state of
catatoniaCatatonia is a syndrome of psychological and motorological disturbances. Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum first described it in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungirresein...
after the death of her son. Mrs Rand claims that it was just "a little practical psychology", but, ignoring her advice, Betsy takes her patient to the
houmfortThe Voodoo temple is called a Hounfour, and the leader of the ceremony is a male priest called a Houngan, or a female priest called a Mambo.At the centre of the temple there is a post used to contact spirits, and a highly decorated altar...
(a place where the local voodoo worshipers assemble).
The two women set off on a nightmarish journey through billowing fields of cane, past animal sacrifices and to the crossroads guarded by the towering figure of the zombie Carre-Four (Darby Jones) (
carrefour is French for crossroad; here it is a reference to the
loaThe Loa are the spirits of the Voodoo religion practiced in Haiti, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles. They are somewhat akin to saints or angels in Christianity in that they are intermediaries between Bondye —the Creator, who is distant from the...
Maitre CarrefoursIn Vodou, Kalfou or Carrefour Kalfu is one of the petro aspects of the spirit Papa Legba. He is often envisioned as a young man or as a demon; his colour is red and he favours rum infused with gunpowder...
). They finally reach the Houmfort where they watch the rituals being performed by a priest known as the Sabreur (Jieno Moxzer), who wields a saber. Visitors are given advice through a hole in a shack by another Voodoo priest. Betsy however is summoned inside where she is shocked to find that the priest is none other than Mrs Rand.
Mrs Rand explains that she uses Voodoo to convince the natives to accept standard medical practices and tells Betsy that Jessica can never be cured. Outside, Jessica's strange demeanor excites the locals who try out a test with the sword. It convinces them that she is a bloodless zombie. Betsy takes her back to the house.
The natives start to intensify their drumming and demand that Jessica be returned to them for "ritual tests". Tension starts to build in the area to the point that it worries even the white community, which has always taken Voodoo as a sort of joke. It's even suggested that Jessica should be sent to an asylum in
Saint Thomas in the Virgin IslandsSaint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea, a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of Charlotte Amalie. As of the 2001 census, the population of Saint...
. Later the Sabreur sends Carre-Four into the residence but, before he can seize Jessica, Mrs Rand appears and orders him back to the Houmfort.
Paul suggests that Betsy should return to Canada, as he is fearful of demeaning and abusing her as he did Jessica. She is convinced that he is not really like that.
The next day, Doctor Maxwell comes to announce that the native unrest has sparked an official inquiry into Jessica's illness. With obvious glee and satisfaction, Wesley pins the whole thing on Paul, but then Mrs Rand reveals that Jessica is not really ill but an actual zombie, a member of the living dead!
Although she had never actually taken Voodoo seriously before, Mrs Rand claims that when she discovered that Jessica was planning to run away with Wesley and break up her family, she felt herself possessed by a Voodoo god. She then put a curse on Jessica, turning her into a zombie.
Paul, Maxwell and Betsy dismiss all this, claiming that Jessica never actually died and that her heart is still beating — which would rule out her being a zombie. Wesley, on the other hand, gives credence to his mother's story and becomes obsessed with freeing Jessica from her current state of being. He even asks Betsy if she would consider
euthanasiaEuthanasia refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner. Many different forms of euthanasia can be distinguished, including animal euthanasia and human euthanasia, and within the latter, voluntary and involuntary euthanasia...
but she refuses, claiming that as a nurse she is supposed to guard life, not take it.
Using a plastic doll made to look like Jessica, the Sabreur takes control of her and makes her walk out of the estate after Wesley has opened the gates. Then — perhaps prompted by the Sabreur, although this is never made clear — Wesley pulls an arrow from the statue of Ti-Misery and follows her. As the Sabreur stabs the doll with a pin, Wesley thrusts the arrow into Jessica. He then carries her into the sea as Carre-Four follows, staring blindly into the night.
Later, the natives discover the bodies of Jessica and Wesley floating in the surf and carry them back to Fort Holland, where Paul comforts Betsy.
Cast
- Tom Conway
Tom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and the brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
as Paul Holland: Conway also appeared in two other LewtonVal Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, who is best known for a sequence of nine brooding horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s....
films, Cat People, and The Seventh VictimThe Seventh Victim is a horror film noir starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Kim Hunter , and Hugh Beaumont, directed by Mark Robson, and produced by noted film producer Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures.-Plot:...
both times playing the character Dr. Louis Judd. In I Walked with a Zombie, Conway portrays the stoic Paul Holland, who has possibly driven his wife Jessica Holland into her catatonic state.
- Frances Dee
Frances Marion Dee was an American actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical, The Playboy of Paris...
as Betsy Connell: Actress Anna LeeAnna Lee, MBE , born Joan Boniface Winnifrith, was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted in 1932 with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
was originally stated for the role of Betsy Connell, the sympathetic nurse, but Frances Dee eventually took the part and Lee appeared in the later Lewton production BedlamBedlam is a film starring Boris Karloff and Anna Lee, and was the last in a series of stylish B films produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures. The film was inspired by William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress, and Hogarth was given a writing credit....
. Dee portrays Betsy as a good-hearted young woman who is persuaded to leave the cold weather of OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
for the heat of the CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
, in order to care for Jessica Holland, though Paul is quick to dash her expectations that the area will be a charming place to stay.
- James Ellison as Wesley Rand: Ellison plays Wesley Rand, Paul Holland's alcoholic brother. Rand is also in love with his brother's catatonic wife and blames Paul for her condition.
- Edith Barrett
Edith Barrett was an American film actress.-Biography:Edith Barrett was a granddaughter of 19th-century American actor Lawrence Barrett. She entered the entertainment industry at age 16 in a staging of Walter Hampden's production of Cyrano de Bergerac...
as Mrs. Rand: Edith Barrett plays the role of Mrs. Rand, the mother of Paul and Wesley. Barrett also went on to also play Ms. Fairfax in Jane EyreJane Eyre is a 1944 classic film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by William Goetz, Kenneth Macgowan and Orson Welles . The screenplay was by John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Henry Koster and Robert...
(1944) — the book of which was a major influence on I Walked With a Zombie. Edith Barrett also appeared in another Val Lewton production, The Ghost ShipThe Ghost Ship is a black-and-white horror film starring Richard Dix. The film is about a young merchant marine officer who begins to suspect that his ship's captain is mentally unbalanced and endangering the lives of the ship's crew. After he files a negative report with the corporation which...
(1943). During the filming of I Walked With a Zombie, Barrett was married to horror icon Vincent PriceVincent Leonard Price II was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:...
. Barrett plays a character that, it can be assumed, is much older than she was at the time of filming (36), an interesting casting choice that has never been explained.
- Christine Gordon as Jessica Holland: Gordon plays Paul Conway's catatonic wife Jessica. Gordon only appeared in one other movie, the propaganda film
A propaganda film is a film, either a documentary-style production or a fictional screenplay, that is produced to convince the viewer of a certain political point or influence the opinions or behavior of people, often by providing deliberately misleading, propagandistic content.-History:The...
Mission to MoscowMission to Moscow is a 1943 drama directed by Michael Curtiz, and book of the same name by Ambassador Joseph E. Davies.The movie, starring Walter Huston, was made in response to a request by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and is one of the movies famously targeted by the House Committee on Un-American...
(1943).
Production
Inspired by
Jane EyreJane Eyre is a famous and influential novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre...
, the film was also based on an article written by Inez Wallace for
American Weekly Magazine.
http://www.whiskeyloosetongue.com/zombie.html
The original screenplay put more emphasis on Jessica's past as a manipulative hussy. It even had a happy ending with Paul and Betsy back in
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
, married and enjoying the hustle and bustle of a modern city.
http://www.whiskeyloosetongue.com/scripts/walked.html This scene was not included in the final film.
I Walked... was a critical and financial success. It has since been acclaimed for its nuanced performances and haunting atmosphere, particularly the nightmare journey undertaken by Betsy and Jessica in the cane field. It is not a "zombie movie" in the common sense of the term, but it is arguably more accurate and sensitive in depicting
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
culture and Voodoo rites and beliefs than many such horror films. Many modern critics are also quick to point out the complex and non-stereotyped way in which black characters are portrayed.
Ambiguity is at the core of the film. It is not established for certain if Jessica is a zombie or not or that Voodoo magic is really effective. Medical explanations are given for Jessica's condition and Betsy gets past Carre-Four even after she has lost the Voodoo patch that she was told she needed in order to do so.
In 2007 it was announced the makers of the
SawSaw is a 2004 horror film, the first installment of the Saw film series. Directed by James Wan and written by Wan and Leigh Whannell, Saw was filmed during only eighteen days of production. It was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2004 and saw international release later that year...
series would be remaking the film for release before 2010.
Books
- This film was referenced in the novel Kiss of the Spider Woman
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a 1976 novel by the Argentine writer Manuel Puig.The novel tells the story of two prisoners, Molina and Valentín, and their relationship in prison...
by Argentine novelist Manuel PuigManuel Puig was an Argentine author...
. In the book, two inmates pass the time by discussing the films one of them has seen. Though I Walked With A Zombie is not specifically mentioned, it is hinted at, as is Cat People, a previous Lewton-Tourneur film.
Film
- The Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is a horror anthology American TV series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...
film RitualTales From the Crypt Presents: Ritual is the third film spin-off from the HBO television series Tales from the Crypt, the first being Demon Knight and the second being Bordello of Blood, it stars Tim Curry, Jennifer Grey and Craig Sheffer....
is a loose remake of I Walked with a Zombie.
Music
- Singer-Songwriter Roky Erickson
Roky Erickson is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre....
, pioneer of the psychedelic rockPsychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among garage and folk rock bands in Britain and the United States...
genre and member of the 13th Floor ElevatorsThe 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin which existed 1965-1969. During their career, the band released four LPs and seven 45s for the International Artists record label....
, wrote a song titled "I Walked with a Zombie" which appeared his 1981 album The Evil One. Since then, the bands R.E.M.R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Michael Stipe , Peter Buck , Mike Mills , and Bill Berry . R.E.M. was one of the first popular alternative rock bands, and gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's unclear vocals. R.E.M...
, Alice DonutAlice Donut is a rock and roll band from New York City. Formed in 1986, disbanded in 1996, and re-formed in 2001, the band toured vigorously and broke up after their 1000th live performance...
and Elf PowerElf Power is an indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia. Currently, the line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Jimmy Hughes, bassist Derek Almstead, drummer Eric Harris, cellist Heather McIntosh and violinist John Fernandes...
have covered this song.
- Dance collective Transglobal Underground
Transglobal Underground is a London-based music collective who specialise in a fusion of western, oriental and African music styles...
sampled some of the voodoo chanting from the soundtrack of I Walked with a Zombie for the track "Zombie'ites" from their 1993 album "Dream of 100 Nations".
- Wednesday 13
Joseph Poole, better known as Wednesday 13 , is a rock musician from Charlotte, North Carolina. He is most famous for his role as the frontman of the Murderdolls...
's 2005 Album "Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead" contains the track "I Walked With A Zombie", which was inspired by this film, and who's video depicts band member's edited into another Zombie classic, George A. RomeroGeorge Andrew Romero is an American film director, screenwriter, editor and occasional actor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed Grandfather of the Zombie....
's "Night Of The Living DeadNight of the Living Dead is a 1968 independent black-and-white zombie film directed by George A. Romero. Ben and Barbra are the protagonists of a story about the mysterious reanimation of the recently dead, and their efforts, along with five other people, to survive the night while trapped in a...
"
External links
- I Walked with a Zombie at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...