Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Tad Pole . . . is one of the many medical dramas from that era showing that what was then referred to as "The World's Second Oldest Profession"--Nursing--was one of the quickest ways for a lady to earn her MRS. degree back then. I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE is somewhat of an outlier, as most of the movies churned out from this mold involved wounded World War Two servicemen getting serviced by and sometimes wedding the female nursing staff (this being the benighted times BEFORE "Don't ask, don't tell"). Instead of being called upon to serve a private with major wounds (or vice versa), Nurse Betsy's I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE adventure calls her up to action on behalf of a wealthy husband with a nonfunctional wife. As brother Wes notes, Betsy has all the meds necessary to allow her to fill this breach herself through attrition. Sadly, Betsy is not the sort of chick to get her hands soiled, forcing Wes himself to step in and do the dirty work. But as so many G.I.s found out to their delight in the mainstream cinema nursing docs, "Things go better with Cloak"--whether it's the white shroud of secrecy surrounding the nursing "profession," or their white wedding-like capes that do nothing to bridle their inexorable march toward that hallowed Bridal Aisle.

frankwiener I have always been attracted to the Caribbean region and have found it to be a very mysterious corner of the world. For me, a remote Caribbean island not yet corrupted by large-scale, commercial tourism and floating high rise hotels serves as the perfect setting for a strange and unsettling film such as this. While one reviewer identified the island as Haiti, no one speaks French or even has a French accent, so it shouldn't be Haiti. Curiously, the "filming location" section on IMDb is blank, and I have yet to find the actual locale.As was the case with "Cat People", produced only one year earlier, Director Tourneur and Producer Lewton worked diligently to create an ominous atmosphere with much success. Deep within the unseen jungle, the haunting beat of drums constantly unnerves both the characters and the audience as they persist through the rustling cane fields while the hot, debilitating winds hypnotize the island and all of its inhabitants. We never know when the menacing image of Carrefour, a towering zombie with bulging, catatonic eyes, appears in search of some lost soul physically inhabiting this world but claimed by another. Whether authentic or not, the voodoo ceremony here is captivating and very creepy.While the whites on the island, specifically the Hollands and the Rands, hold economic power, they are spiritually dominated by a much more influential, intangible power of the local, black culture. While the past misery of the island's black enslavement is very clear, none of the local folks seem to be as unhappy as the white planter family. For example, Alma, the maid (Theresa Harris), may cry when her niece is born, she is among the few characters who maintain an overall bright and sunny outlook on island life, which has become a foreboding prison for most of the white folks. From start to finish, this is a very intriguing and entertaining movie on many different levels. For me, the biggest, unresolved mysteries were (1) the mostly unrevealed full story behind the mother, Mrs. Rand (Edith Barrett), and (2) the physical attraction of a dish like nurse Betsy to such a gloomy wretch like Paul Holland (Tom Conway), other than the scarcity of other options available to her. Holland needed an attractive young nurse from Ottawa even more than his zombie wife did. Lucky guy.

Alex da Silva Frances Dee (Betsy) is appointed as a nurse to care for Christine Gordon (Jessica) on a Caribbean island. Gordon has a mysterious condition. Can it be attributed to voodoo or more natural causes? Whatever the condition, it is weird! The rest of the cast include her plantation-owner husband Tom Conway (Paul), his half-brother James Ellison (Wesley), their mother Edith Barrett, and a community of voodoo worshippers. They all have their own theories as to what has happened to Jessica. So, can nurse Frances get to the truth? This film is way better than its title suggests. It's atmospheric, spooky, nicely shot and very unexpected as well as original in its setting. There are quite a few memorable set pieces in this fairly short film. In fact, it's all pretty memorable and keeps you watching. If you try to anticipate what is coming next, I guarantee you will get it wrong. I got things wrong every time I thought I knew what was going to happen. It's a very good film in that respect. So, just watch the story unfurl.The actors are fine – I wasn't too enamoured with James Ellison given that he had the top credit. I don't think he deserved it. I'd have put him around 4th on the cast list. There are also several story threads left open and not fully explained but it doesn't matter, it adds to the mystery. I recommend this one - a different kind of zombie in this film. It's scary and sad.

Scott LeBrun Betsy Connell (Frances Dee) is a Canadian nurse hired to come to the Caribbean island of St. Sebastian, to work at Fort Holland. There she will attend to the needs of the mute, unresponsive, yet seemingly alive Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon). Jessica is wife to a plantation owner named Paul Holland (Tom Conway), with whom Betsy falls in love. Betsy becomes determined to do the right thing by Paul by trying to cure her, if she can. That includes immersing herself in the local voodoo culture.There may be modern horror fans who bemoan the lack of what one might consider horror in "I Walked with a Zombie". It starts to go for more of a traditional creep factor in its second half, using the imposing Darby Jones as the mysterious, zombified Carrefour to great effect. Everything is handled with a great deal of sensitivity and authenticity by screenwriters Curt Siodmak & Ardel Wray, producer Val Lewton, and director Jacques Tourneur. Unlike some of the horror product of the time, it actually treats its black characters with a great deal of dignity and respect, and also gives the actors a chance to shine, such as Theresa Harris as Alma the maid.As was always the case with these Lewton productions, the story (based to some degree on Jane Eyre, with factual articles on voodoo in the West Endies also used as a basis) is pretty tight, and the running time is typically short. (69 minutes all told.) We don't get to know the characters all that well, but we do still like them, and in a refreshing touch, there are no clear cut villains or explanations for the strange events. The actors each do a solid job: Dee as the heroine, Conway as the husband, James Ellison as his half brother, Edith Barrett (in old age make-up) as their mother, James Bell as the doctor, and Sir Lancelot as the calypso singer. As one can see, some of the cast were regulars in these Lewton films.Overall, there's a real feeling of sadness to the atmosphere, helping to make this one of the best of Lewtons' filmography. One wouldn't know from the end result how quickly and cheaply these productions were made, as they have the power to grip their viewers 70 plus years later.Eight out of 10.