I Walked with a Zombie
Encyclopedia
I Walked with a Zombie is a 1943 horror film
directed by Jacques Tourneur
. It was the second horror film from producer Val Lewton
for RKO Pictures
; the first was the very successful Cat People, also directed by Tourneur. The film was edited by Mark Robson
, who would later direct The Seventh Victim
and The Ghost Ship
for producer Lewton.
), a Canadian nurse, relates in a voiceover narration how she once "walked with a zombie
."
Betsy is hired to care for the wife of Paul Holland (Tom Conway
), a sugar plantation owner on the Caribbean island of Saint Sebastian. Saint Sebastian is inhabited by a small white community and descendants of African slaves. Betsy is brought to Fort Holland, where she is told the story of how the Hollands brought the slaves to the island, and that the statue of "Ti-Misery" (an effigy of Saint Sebastian with arrows in it) in the courtyard is the figurehead of a slave ship
.
That night at dinner, Betsy meets Paul's half-brother Wesley Rand (James Ellison), who works for him. While getting ready for bed, Betsy hears a woman crying. When she investigates, she is cornered by her patient, Jessica Holland, whom she had not yet met. Jessica walks towards her in a white robe, her eyes staring. Betsy screams, waking the rest of the household. Paul takes charge of Jessica.
The next morning, Betsy meets Jessica's physician, Dr. Maxwell, who explains that his patient's strange condition was caused by a severe tropical fever. It irreparably damaged Jessica's spinal cord
, leaving her totally without the willpower to do anything for herself
.
On her day off, Betsy encounters Wesley in town. While he drinks himself into a stupor, a calypso
singer (Sir Lancelot
) sings about how Jessica was going to run away with Wesley, but Paul would not let them go. Then she was struck down by the fever. Betsy meets Mrs Rand (Edith Barrett
), Paul and Wesley's doctor mother.
That night, Paul and Wesley argue during dinner. Paul tries to cut down on Wesley's drinking (at Betsy's suggestion), 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. 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 her moody employer. She determines to make him happy by curing Jessica.
Betsy gets Paul to agree to try a potentially fatal treatment of insulin shock on Jessica, but it has no effect. Alma (Theresa Harris
), a housemaid, then tells her of how a Voodoo priest cured a woman of a similar condition. Betsy takes her patient without permission to the houmfort
(a place where voodoo worshipers gather). The two women set off through billowing cane fields to a crossroads guarded by the towering figure of the eerie Carre-Four (a reference to the loa
Maitre Carrefours
). At the Houmfort, they watch a man (the Sabreur) wield a saber during a ritual. People are given advice through a shack door 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 conventional medical practices and tells Betsy that Jessica can never be cured. Outside, the locals stab Jessica in the arm with the sword as a test. When she does not bleed, they are convinced she is a zombie. Betsy takes her back to the house.
The natives demand that Jessica be returned to them for "ritual tests". Later, Carre-Four approaches the residence, but Mrs Rand orders him to leave.
Paul suggests that Betsy 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 reports that the unrest has sparked an official inquiry into Jessica's illness. Mrs Rand shocks everyone by claiming that Jessica is a zombie, one of the living dead. Although she had never taken Voodoo seriously, Mrs Rand reveals 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.
Paul, Maxwell and Betsy are disbelieving, pointing out that Jessica's heart is still beating — which would rule out her being a zombie. Wesley, on the other hand, becomes obsessed with freeing Jessica from her zombie state. He asks Betsy if she would consider euthanasia
, but she refuses.
Using a doll made to look like Jessica, the Sabreur takes control of her and tries to draw her to him. Paul and Betsy stop her the first time, but they are not around when he tries again. Wesley opens the gate, letting Jessica out. Then he pulls an arrow out of the statue of Ti-Misery and follows. As the Sabreur stabs the doll with a pin, Wesley thrusts the arrow into Jessica. He then carries her body into the sea, pursued slowly by Carre-Four. 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.
's Jane Eyre
for giving the story a narrative structure and to do research on Haitian voodoo practices.
in 1943, critics later called it "intelligent" (William K. Everson
), "exceptional" (Leonard Maltin
) and "the most elegant" in Lewton's RKO horror series (Tom Milne
).
The film's treatment of the supernatural
element repeatedly attracted interest among reviewers:
In 2007, Stylus Magazine
named it the fifth best Zombie
movie of all time.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur
Jacques 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 Lewton
Val Lewton
Val Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s.-Early life:...
for RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the 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 Robson
Mark Robson
Mark 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 Victim
The Seventh Victim
The Seventh Victim is a 1943 horror and film noir starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Kim Hunter , and Hugh Beaumont, directed by Mark Robson, and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures...
and The Ghost Ship
The Ghost Ship
The Ghost Ship is a black-and-white horror and crime film starring Richard Dix, Russell Wade, and Skelton Knaggs. 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...
for producer Lewton.
Plot
Betsy Connell (Frances DeeFrances Dee
Frances 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 once "walked with a zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
."
Betsy is hired to care for the wife of Paul Holland (Tom Conway
Tom Conway
Tom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and elder brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
), a sugar plantation owner on the Caribbean island of Saint Sebastian. Saint Sebastian is inhabited by a small white community and descendants of African slaves. Betsy is brought to Fort Holland, where she is told the story of how the Hollands brought the slaves to the island, and that the statue of "Ti-Misery" (an effigy of Saint Sebastian with arrows in it) in the courtyard is the figurehead of a slave ship
Slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves to Americas....
.
That night at dinner, Betsy meets Paul's half-brother Wesley Rand (James Ellison), who works for him. While getting ready for bed, Betsy hears a woman crying. When she investigates, she is cornered by her patient, Jessica Holland, whom she had not yet met. Jessica walks towards her in a white robe, her eyes staring. Betsy screams, waking the rest of the household. Paul takes charge of Jessica.
The next morning, Betsy meets Jessica's physician, Dr. Maxwell, who explains that his patient's strange condition was caused by a severe tropical fever. It irreparably damaged Jessica's spinal cord
Spinal cord
The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain . The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system...
, leaving her totally without the willpower to do anything for herself
Volition (psychology)
Volition or will is the cognitive process by which an individual decides on and commits to a particular course of action. It is defined as purposive striving, and is one of the primary human psychological functions...
.
On her day off, Betsy encounters Wesley in town. While he drinks himself into a stupor, a calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
singer (Sir Lancelot
Sir Lancelot (singer)
Lancelot 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.-Early life:Pinard was born in Cumuto, Trinidad...
) sings about how Jessica was going to run away with Wesley, but Paul would not let them go. Then she was struck down by the fever. Betsy meets Mrs Rand (Edith Barrett
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. At 19 in 1926 she appeared with Hampden in...
), Paul and Wesley's doctor mother.
That night, Paul and Wesley argue during dinner. Paul tries to cut down on Wesley's drinking (at Betsy's suggestion), 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. 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 her moody employer. She determines to make him happy by curing Jessica.
Betsy gets Paul to agree to try a potentially fatal treatment of insulin shock on Jessica, but it has no effect. Alma (Theresa Harris
Theresa Harris
Theresa Harris was an American television and film actress.-Early life and career:Harris was born on New Year's Eve, 1906 in Houston, Texas to Isaiah and Mable Harris, both of whom were former sharecroppers from Louisiana.In 1929, she came out to Hollywood and lent her singing voice to the...
), a housemaid, then tells her of how a Voodoo priest cured a woman of a similar condition. Betsy takes her patient without permission to the houmfort
Hounfour
The 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 voodoo worshipers gather). The two women set off through billowing cane fields to a crossroads guarded by the towering figure of the eerie Carre-Four (a reference to the loa
Loa
The Loa are the spirits of the voodoo religion practiced in Louisiana, Haiti, Benin, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye —the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity...
Maitre Carrefours
Kalfu
Kalfu, Kalfou or Carrefour is one of the petwo 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...
). At the Houmfort, they watch a man (the Sabreur) wield a saber during a ritual. People are given advice through a shack door 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 conventional medical practices and tells Betsy that Jessica can never be cured. Outside, the locals stab Jessica in the arm with the sword as a test. When she does not bleed, they are convinced she is a zombie. Betsy takes her back to the house.
The natives demand that Jessica be returned to them for "ritual tests". Later, Carre-Four approaches the residence, but Mrs Rand orders him to leave.
Paul suggests that Betsy 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 reports that the unrest has sparked an official inquiry into Jessica's illness. Mrs Rand shocks everyone by claiming that Jessica is a zombie, one of the living dead. Although she had never taken Voodoo seriously, Mrs Rand reveals 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.
Paul, Maxwell and Betsy are disbelieving, pointing out that Jessica's heart is still beating — which would rule out her being a zombie. Wesley, on the other hand, becomes obsessed with freeing Jessica from her zombie state. He asks Betsy if she would consider euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
, but she refuses.
Using a doll made to look like Jessica, the Sabreur takes control of her and tries to draw her to him. Paul and Betsy stop her the first time, but they are not around when he tries again. Wesley opens the gate, letting Jessica out. Then he pulls an arrow out of the statue of Ti-Misery and follows. As the Sabreur stabs the doll with a pin, Wesley thrusts the arrow into Jessica. He then carries her body into the sea, pursued slowly by Carre-Four. 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 ConwayTom ConwayTom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and elder brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
as Paul Holland. Conway also appeared in two other LewtonVal LewtonVal Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s.-Early life:...
films, Cat People and The Seventh VictimThe Seventh VictimThe Seventh Victim is a 1943 horror and film noir starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Kim Hunter , and Hugh Beaumont, directed by Mark Robson, and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures...
, both times playing a character named Dr. Louis Judd (without any further connection between the two).
- Frances DeeFrances DeeFrances Marion Dee was an American actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical, The Playboy of Paris...
as Betsy Connell. Anna LeeAnna LeeAnna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
was originally stated for the role. Lee appeared in the later Lewton production BedlamBedlam (film)Bedlam 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.-Plot:Set in 1761 London, England, the film...
.
- James Ellison as Wesley Rand
- Edith BarrettEdith 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. At 19 in 1926 she appeared with Hampden in...
as Mrs. Rand. Barrett went on to play Ms. Fairfax in Jane EyreJane Eyre (1944 film)Jane Eyre is a 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. Barrett also appeared in another Val Lewton production, The Ghost ShipThe Ghost ShipThe Ghost Ship is a black-and-white horror and crime film starring Richard Dix, Russell Wade, and Skelton Knaggs. 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...
(1943).
- Christine Gordon as Jessica Holland
Production
Producer Val Lewton was forced to use the film's title by RKO executives. Officially, the film was based on an article written by Inez Wallace for American Weekly Magazine. Lewton asked his writers to use Charlotte BrontëCharlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
's Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England, in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York...
for giving the story a narrative structure and to do research on Haitian voodoo practices.
Reception
While I Walked with a Zombie was declared to be "a dull, disgusting exaggeration of an unhealthy, abnormal concept of life" by The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 1943, critics later called it "intelligent" (William K. Everson
William K. Everson
William Keith "Bill" Everson was an English-American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector and film historian. He often discovered lost films.-Early life and career:...
), "exceptional" (Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
) and "the most elegant" in Lewton's RKO horror series (Tom Milne
Tom Milne
Tom Milne was a British film critic.After war service, he studied English and French at Aberdeen University and later at the Sorbonne...
).
The film's treatment of the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
element repeatedly attracted interest among reviewers:
- "As with all of Val Lewton’s films, I Walked with a Zombie hovers on the deliberate edge of ambiguity between whether the explanation for events is mundane or supernatural. [...] The central belief/doubt ambiguity of the film hovers around the question of whether Jessica is suffering from tropical fever or has been affected by voodoo. The film sits just between rationalism and superstition – its’ duality plays on the conflict between Western Christendom and Caribbean culture, and between medicine and magic." – Richard Scheib
- "In [I Walked with a Zombie] belief in the supernatural is but one of many faults in the human character. The script never confirms the reality of Voodoo even when it is clear that the Voodoo masters are controlling the zombie Carre-Four. It's worth noting that Wesley 'falls under the voodoo spell' only after despairing of the hopeless state of affairs at the Hammond house, and sinking into a deep depression. [...] Lewton's theme is that human nature creates Evil -- that unresolved guilt and suspicions from the past dominate the Hammond family's present. Better natures are stifled, starting a chain of human misery that leads to tragedy. The result -- wasted lives and blighted vitality -- is as pervasive as the creeping Voodoo beliefs themselves. " – Glenn Erickson
In 2007, Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus 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 Zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
movie of all time.
Books
- This film was referenced in the novel Kiss of the Spider WomanKiss of the Spider Woman (novel)Kiss of the Spider Woman is a novel by the Argentine writer Manuel Puig. It is considered his most successful....
by Argentine novelist Manuel PuigManuel 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 CryptTales from the Crypt (TV series)Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...
film RitualRitual (film)Tales From the Crypt Presents: Ritual is the third and final film spin-off from the HBO television series Tales from the Crypt, the first being Demon Knight and the second being Bordello of Blood. The film was released in 2002 and stars Tim Curry, Jennifer Grey, and Craig Sheffer with Avi Nesher...
(2001) is a loose remake of I Walked with a Zombie. - In 2007 it was announced the makers of the SawSaw (film)Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell...
series would be remaking the film for release before 2010.
Music
- Singer-songwriter Roky EricksonRoky EricksonRoky Erickson is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre.-Biography:...
, pioneer of the psychedelic rockPsychedelic 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 folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
genre and member of the 13th Floor Elevators13th Floor ElevatorsThe 13th Floor Elevators were an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland, which existed from 1965 to 1969...
, wrote a song titled "I Walked with a Zombie", which appeared on his 1981 album The Evil One. Since then, the bands R.E.M.R.E.M.R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, U.K. Subs, Alice DonutAlice DonutAlice Donut is a punk rock band from New York City. Formed in 1986, disbanded in 1996, and re-formed in 2001. Between 1989 and 1996 the band toured vigorously in the US, Europe and Japan and played over 1000 live performances...
and Elf PowerElf 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, and drummer Eric Harris...
have covered this song.
- Dance collective Transglobal UndergroundTransglobal undergroundTransglobal 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 13Wednesday 13Joseph 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 album Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead (2005) contains the track "I Walked With A Zombie", inspired by this film. The song's video depicts band members edited into another zombie classic, George A. RomeroGeorge A. RomeroGeorge Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
's Night Of The Living DeadNight of the Living DeadNight of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
.
External links
- I Walked with a Zombie at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...