Wednesday, October 25, 2017

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 25: I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE 1943 (TCM VIEWING)

This is how to make a horror film!

Frances Dee stars as Betsy Connell, a nurse from Canada who is called to a small Caribbean island to care for the wife of a sugar plantation owner.

Once on the island she meets Paul Holland (Tom Conway) whose wife is in a zombie-like trance. Holland slowly falls in love with Connell and a very dark and twisted family secret becomes more and more clear.

This was produced by Val Lewton, of course and that means the atmosphere is heavy and the darkness is deep. Jacques Tourneur directed this horror classic andd he has a way of making the most mundane scenes look very scary.

This film takes you back to a time in cinema when zombies were created by Voodoo and served their masters. This is how zombies were portrayed in films until 1968, and that is not a bad thing. Darby Jones is frightening as Carrfour, a tall and menacing zombie with a decaying face and menacing walk.

The rest of the cast for this very impressive film includes James Ellison, Edith Barrett, James Bell and Sir Lancelot. One more thing about this film, in case you have never seen it...the ending is abrupt and wonderfully done. Highly Recommended film.

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