Customer Reviews

I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Val Lewton (1904-1951) was brought to RKO when that studio decided to compete with Universal in the horror genre. As it happened, RKO was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy at the time--and Lewton was given the audience-tested title CAT PEOPLE and ordered to create an inexpensive movie to fit it. Without the budget to create "a monster movie," Lewton responded with a series of remarkably artful films that relied on suggestion and implication.

Released in 1943, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE is considered by many to be Lewton's single best film. Directed by Jacques Tourneur (who also directed Lewton's CAT PEOPLE and LEOPARD MAN), the story concerns nurse Betsy Connell (Frances Dee), who is hired to care for mysterious Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon--and who finds herself romantically torn between the woman's husband Paul (Tom Conway) and his half-brother Holland (James Ellison.) But no sooner does Nurse Connell settle in to the situation than she becomes unsettled by native drums. Is her patient's strange condition the result of voodoo?

Although the film suffers from an occasional plot hole, it is easily one of the most stylish horror films of the 20th century. Like all Lewton films, the direction, performances, and script are low key--but the tone is at once romantic and chilling, a strange tropical melange buttressed by Lewton's remarkable eye for black and white design. While the film print is not pristine, it is reasonably good and probably represents a best-case situation. Unfortunately, the commentary by film historians Kim Newman and Steve Jones tends to be excessively chatty; even so, it can be remarkably informative.

Released in 1945, THE BODY SNATCHER often vies with I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE for critical approval. Directed by Robert Wise (who also directed Lewton's CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE), the film clearly has a larger budget and a tighter script than most Lewton movies--and this is due to the presence of a star: Boris Karloff, an actor with whom Lewton did not originally want to work; after meeting him, however, Lewton realized Karloff's true potential as a serious actor, and Karloff would make three films for Lewton.

Loosely based on the Robert Louis Stevenson story which was itself suggested by the notorious Burke and Hare case. In an era when bodies were available for medical purposes, Dr. MacFarlaine (Henry Daniell) relies on grave-robber John Gray (Karloff) for specimens--and MacFarlaine soon involves protege Russel Wade (Donald Fettes) in the traffic. But it happens that Gray is not very fastidious when it comes to acquiring cadavers, and murder is the result.

Some critics complain that BODY SNATCHER is excessively literal in comparison with other Lewton films, but the strength of the film is actually rests upon its remarkably cool, clinical feel. Everything about the film is completely believable. The cast is flawless, and if there was every any doubt about Karloff's skill as an actor this film erases it: his performance is fascinating, and although you quickly learn to loathe Gray--but try as you might, you cannot deny his humanity. Daniell is equally fine in what would his most memorable role. And then there is Bela Lugosi.

Lugosi, of course, had been a major horror star of the 1930s and had often co-starred with Karloff, with THE BLACK CAT perhaps their most memorable pairing. But Lugosi's accent limited the roles he could play, and by 1945 his career had taken a downturn from which it would never recover. Lugosi was hired for this film for the sake of publicity--a sort of "together again!" campaign--but although he received second billing the role of Joseph, Dr. MacFarlane's servant, was actually quite small. Even so, Lugosi proves extremely memorable, and it is difficult to imagine the film without him. It was the last time he would appear with Karloff, who by all accounts was very sensitive to Lugosi's situation during filming. Karloff and Lugosi would never work together again, and Lugosi quick declined into obscurity.

The print of THE BODY SNATCHER is not pristine, but it is very fine, and the excellent commentary is divided between director Robert Wise and film historian Steve Haberman; Wise provides comments on both his own career and his work with Lewton, while Haberman's remarks are particular to the film. Original trailers for I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and THE BODY SNATCHER round out the DVD. This DVD is also available in the five disk box set THE VAL LEWTON HORROR COLLECTION, which I also recommend.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

A wonderful double-feature DVD featuring two greats from legendary genre producer Val Lewton.

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I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)

Purportedly based on Charlotte Bronte's novel JANE EYRE, this typically low-key Lewton chiller stars pretty Frances Dee as a Canadian nurse assigned to care for the semi-comatose wife of a plantation owner. Not really a horror film--but fascinating nonetheless--this one's a gloomy yet well-acted melodrama that uses the voodoo-steeped Caribbean island of San Sebastian as a backdrop. Jacques Tourneur's haunting direction, J. Roy Hunt's rich black-and-white cinematography, and Roy Webb's calypso-inspired score create a very otherworldly atmosphere, and actor Darby Jones' portrayal of an emaciated, bug-eyed island native--who may or may not be a zombie--is disturbingly unforgettable.

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THE BODY SNATCHER (1945)

This literate adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story stars genre great Boris Karloff as a 19th-century grave robber who turns to murder in order to meet the local med school's quota for cadavers to dissect. Karloff delivers what is arguably one of his best performances, and Bela Lugosi does equally well in a less prominent secondary role. The film is also notable for being one of the first genre directorial efforts from Robert Wise, who would later direct such genre classics as THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), THE HAUNTING (1963), THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1971), and STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979), as well as some non-genre greats like WEST SIDE STORY (1961) and THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965).

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The double-feature disc from Warner offers both movies their original 1.33:1 format, and though neither appears to have received any restoration, the condition of both is pretty good considering their age (THE BODY SNATCHER is in the best shape by comparison). Each flick is paired with its theatrical trailer, and both are accompanied by optional feature-length commentaries. The commentary on THE BODY SNATCHER is from the late director Robert Wise, possibly the last one he worked on prior to his death in September of 2005.

All in all, this disc is well worth the reasonable price of admission and is a must-have for any serious film collector.

These are two of Lewton's Classic films, though a wee bit mismatched.

"I Walked with a Zombie" must win the award for the most ridiculous title for a super movie. During a period when screenwriters were on strike they had to keep making movies, so they turned to the classics. In this one they took Jane Eyre and moved it to the tropics and added a sprinkle of Voodoo and came out with a very atmospheric film. Any young film director looking to learn the technique of evocative atmosphere needs to start here. This movie oozes a melancholy ambiance that is more sinister than horror. One my my favourite all time films.

The second, they dusted off and trotted out was a Robert Lewis Stephenson tale about evil-doings in the period of body snatching. A very understated yet menacing Karloff is the sinister body snatcher willing to provide a young doctor the much needed corpses he needs for his medical experiments - even if they are still alive and protesting. It's a very understate film, no sensational acting. Costuming for the period Scotland it's wonderful. Excellent direction from the master Robert Wise.

There are theatrical trailers, it has subtitles in England, French and Spanish (but on the feature films only). Also included are commentary by Film Historians Kim Newman and Steve Jones for Zombie and Steve Haberman for Body Snatcher.

These are two of the very best Lewton films. Not to be missed for the power of each does not lessen with time.

I just purchased this great Val Lewton 2-pack and so far I've watched "I Walked with a Zombie". The following review is on that film only. I'll come back to review "The Body Snatcher" once I've watched that.
Quick synopsis: A nurse is hired to watch over a mental patient on a mysterious island. The patient is in a zombie-like state and the nurse is desperate to cure her. A love triangle ensues between the nurse, the patient's husband, and the husband's half brother. The island natives want the patient to themselves, as they believe she is a real zombie, resulting from voodoo.
The movie has a decent pace, with lots of gothic romance, dark foreshadowing, mystery, and great sets. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, although the ending seemed anti-climactic for the slow buildup created throughout the film.
The quality of the footage was pretty good. Some slight shaky scenes and small scratches throughout, not bad though. The audio was fantastic. The dvd includes optional subtitles, which is great for catching those few lines you may have missed. It also includes a commentary and a theatrical trailer for the film.
I'd recommend this highly for fans old romance and mysteries. Although it has plenty of creepy scenes, including a fantastic one where the nurse is bringing the patient down to the native's land into a voodoo circle, I wouldn't consider this a straight horror film. It's very enjoyable though, and I'm proud to have it in my collection!

Right off the bat I have to admit that there was a moment in 'I Walked With A Zombie' where I found myself on the edge of my seat and biting a ragged chunk from my index fingernail. I would be the first skeptic to say "Yeah, whatever" if someone said that a movie this old could still pack a punch, but 'I Walked With A Zombie' does just that. The story is simple ... city nurse goes to an island where voodoo is the national pastime and finds herself mixing it up with zombies. But when we think of zombies today, we tend to imagine the faster, bloodier, fang-filled versions of more recent movies like 'Shaun of the Dead' and '28 Weeks Later'. Producer Val Lewton's zombies are more classical ... shuffling, bug-eyed undead who relentlessly pursue their victims, even if it takes them days to actually reach them. -- This movie combines excellent production values and intelligent scripting to produce a movie that is as hypnotic and interesting today as it was then. -- And luckily, this set is doubled with 'The Body Snatcher' (arguably, Boris Karloff's greatest role). This movie deals with a doctor and the blackmailing grave robber who provides cadavers for his midnight researches. Karloff comes out of the gate running in this one -- partially chewing the scenery and genuinely giving off creepy vibes. He is all menace in this movie. In a small but excellent turn is Bela Lugosi (like the Kirk/Picard debates, there is argument over who was the king of the horror genre, Lugosi or Karloff. It's Karloff by many many miles, but Lugosi was great, so long as he didn't actually have to carry a picture). Lugosi plays something with stringy hair and an indecipherable accent and he does this very well, even getting some screen time with Karloff, making 'Body Snatcher' a delight for anyone who used to stay up late on Saturday nights, watching whatever black and white offering the local TV stations used to provide. These two films are often used as examples of producer Val Lewton's finest work. Who can argue? These movies still make me jump.

Excellent, somewhat campy, often genuinely creepy film from the fine French director Jacques Tourneur, I Walked with a Zombie is less well-known than his famous Cat People but perhaps even more accomplished. Something of a Jane Eyre story recast in the West Indies, the film features an added treat in watching the calypso great Sir Lancelot act as a kind of Greek chorus, narrating the action.

I rented this for I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE because I was intrigued that it is supposedly "inspired" by Jane Eyre, perhaps my favorite book. Well, like Jane Eyre it has a young woman in love with a man she works for who has a "mad" wife and both mad women had spent some time on tropical islands but the similarities pretty much end there. The story told in ZOMBIE is compelling and though not pure horror is quite spooky at times. The nurse taking the mad woman through the sugar canes to get to the voodoo ceremony was suspenseful and chilling and there are some other creepy touches throughout the movie. The atmosphere of the island is deftly created by a soundtrack of songs and mysterious drumbeats as well as decent acting and believable sets. The romance between the nurse and the "zombie's" husband was of secondary importance to the voodoo tale.
I wasn't even going to watch THE BODYSNATCHER but when I saw it had both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in it I thought it deserved a look. The movie was well plotted and paced and the secondary story of the crippled little girl fit in well with the main plot line. I don't know enough about 19th century Scotland to say the setting of the story is historically accurate but the movie sure gave the feeling and mood of that time and place. And like "Zombie" this is a well told story that makes sense in it's context. Karloff's acting as "the bodysnatcher" is great and Lugosi has a fairly minor part as a doctor's servant who tries to blackmail Karloff and is killed in a rather chilling scene. The ending is a little over the top but I have to admit I liked it. Both movies are just a little over an hour a piece so they make a great double feature.

THE BODY SNATCHER---(1945)---(directed by Robert Wise)---Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Bela Lugosi, Edith Atwater, Rita Corday, Russell Wad, Sharyn Moffett.
One of the nine "horror" films produced at RKO in the early to mid-40's by Val Lewton, widely acknowledged as the "Father of the Psychological Horror Film". Lewton's guiding principle was that the thing that we fear the most is the, "unknown". Hitchcock's, PSYCHO, owes much to Lewton's approach to making a "horror" movie. The script is based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Boris Karloff stars as the title character, a grave-robber who provides cadavers for a doctor(Daniell) who runs a medical school. When the supply of corpses who have died natural deaths begins to run low, Karloff resorts to murder. One particularly effective example of Lewton's approach to making this type of film has to do with Karloff's murder of a young, blind "street singer". We see her walking down a deserted street, closely followed by Karloff in his horse drawn cart---they disappear into the dark--- a few seconds later, the girl's singing suddenly ceases---in the next scene, we see Karloff delivering the body to Daniell's medical school---it's creepy. As the film unfolds, we learn that Karloff and Daniell have a lengthy personal history and that Daniell is morally conflicted about having to deal with a, "crawling graveyard rat", like Karloff. We learn that Karloff was born poor and has had to, "bow and scrape", to the more affluent all his life. He enjoys the power he has to "ruin" an upper-class individual like Daniell, if he so chooses. This is one of three films that Karloff made with Lewton(the other two were: BEDLAM and ISLE OF THE DEAD), and he gives a nicely nuanced performance---one of his best(IMO)---we are, by turns, repelled by his character and sympathetic to him. Lugosi has a very small role as Daniell's assistant who makes the mistake of trying to blackmail Karloff---it was the last film in which Karloff and Lugosi appeared together. Predictably, the conflict between Karloff and Daniell provides the climax of the film. IMO, this is one of the best of the films that comprise the, "Val Lewton cycle"---I recommend this film to fans of "psychological horror" movies. All nine Lewton films are available in a reasonably priced box set, with an additional hour long documentary on Lewton's career---a worthy addition to any film library.

"I Walked with a Zombie" (1943) is the latest film I've seen in my attempt to review every zombie movie ever made. I am not reviewing this through the eyes of a film enthusiast trying to understand the brilliance of one of Val Lewton's masterpieces. Rather, I'm going to attempt to review the film more through the eyes of a person fanatically obsessed with all things "zombie" (though, that is not to imply that I am a merely a philistine). The story is of nurse, Betsy Connell, who was sent to a Caribbean island to help a plantation owner care for his catatonic wife. Add a couple of love triangles and some voodoo into the mix, and those are the ingredients for a great picture.

"I Walked with a Zombie" is an interesting conundrum for zombie fans. It is a more traditional zombie story, which ends up making it an unconventional zombie movie by modern standards. In the pre-Romero and pre-Ossorio era, zombie movies such as this one usually stick close to their Haitian voodoo roots. They are either a loved one or brought back from the dead or a slave used to carry out mischievous deeds, as opposed to the infectious creatures out to eat brains. The zombies in this movie carry a double meaning. They are both the traditional Haitian "risen from the dead" zombies, but they also refer to people who are mentally comatose. Though I have a love for the modern zombie films, I have a deep appreciation for this older and more traditional version of the zombie story.

For a film made in the 1940's, there is not going to be a lot of the stereotypical things people look for in zombie movies. There is no bloody gore, and there is no blatant sexism of 70's nudity. At the same time, considering it was made in the 40's. the film is very risqué. Though "I Walked with a Zombie" is lacking in what many are used to in modern zombie movies, the film more than makes up for it by having something that many modern zombie films lack: great dialog, a compelling plot, and amazing direction. The conversation at the opening of the film between nurse Betsy and the plantation owner is probably some of the most brilliant dialog ever put in a film with "zombie" in a title. "Everything seems beautiful because you don't understand. Those flying fish, they're not leaping for joy, they're jumping in terror. Bigger fish want to eat them. That luminous water, it takes its gleam from millions of tiny dead bodies. The glitter of putrescence. There is no beauty here, only death and decay [...] Everything good dies here. Even the stars." A phenomenal speech that really sets the somber tone of the film.

Jacques Tourneur's direction was amazing. The scene when Betsy first encounters her patient is frightening. The scene when Betsy brings her patient to the voodoo ceremony is dreamy and memorable.

I believe there are two drawbacks to the movie. First is that the romance between the nurse and the plantation owner seems entirely tacked on. It really comes out of nowhere, and isn't supported by any of the scenes in the movie. At the same time, in the 40's they had to be very careful about the Production Code, and showing a married man romantically interested in another woman while he had a sick wife would have been difficult.

My second issue with the movie is debatable, as to whether it is a drawback. This is difficult to gage by a person watching a movie 65 years past it's time, but it seems like there is a certain level of (unintentional?) racism in the movie. This first hit me when an old islander is bringing Betsy to the plantation and is telling her about, "The enormous boat brought the long-ago fathers and the long-ago mothers of us all...chained to the bottom of the boat," to which Betsy replies, ""They brought you to a beautiful place, didn't they?" I cringed at that. It's like saying, "Sure, your ancestors were slaves taken from their homes, and most probably died on the boat over, but at least they were taken to a place with a beach and palm trees." It struck me as rather callous. Also, all of the island people seem to be stereotypically superstitious and "simple folks". On the other side of the argument I've read articles, and even seen a documentary by Martin Scorsese, that discuss how if "I Walked With A Zombie" is considered in the context of the early 1940's, that it is actually an anti-racist movie. Those articles talk about how even the mention of slave ships was a bold move in the 40's, and how Betsy's callous response would have been accurate for the character. The articles also have a very different take on the portrayal of island people than I did. They describe the movie's portrayal of the Caribbean people and their religious practice as "extraordinarily accurate" and "respectful", and "free of the racial stereotypes". It's is a complex issue of the film, and each viewer will have to form their own opinion. I know I change my opinion from day to day. If it means anything, the film was purportedly immensely popular with African American audiences when it was released.

Those issues aside, I find this to be a thoroughly enjoyable movie and give "I Walked with a Zombie" a 8/10 on my zombie movie rating scale. Though many zombie fanatics may be put-off by the more traditional take on the genre, I can't imagine anyone not being able to appreciate this movie. As a sign of a truly good zombie film, it is a movie that has appeal for everyone, and not simply those who are zombie fanatics.

"The Body Snatcher" (1945): as a bonus, the movie is on the same DVD as Val Lewton and Robert Wise's adaptation of Robert Lewis Stevenson's "The Body Snatcher". "The Body Snatcher" is the story of a medical professor who hires a grave robber to keep supplying him with fresh corpses. The professor wants to get out of it, but the grave robber starts to black mail him, and carries things too far. It's a great film, and chance to see actor Boris Karloff do some fantastic work as the grave robber. Also, there's a rare scene of Karloff and Bela Lugosi going head to head. A movie definitely worth the time: 8/10.

These are two of the finest films of the very fine Val Lewton Collection. I walked with a Zombie is, oddly enough, a very elegant treatment of the walking dead. Lewton's favorite director, Jacques Tourneur, was at the helm, giving the subject the correct weight and just enough darkness. No one in the history of film could have made this movie but Val Lewton.

Think of it: RKO studios came to Lewton and gave him a title - I Walked With A Zombie - with directions to make a quick, effective zombie flick to cash in on the horror craze (the studio was still getting over the money pit Orson Wells had dug for them with his Citizen Kane, which was very poorly attended). Val Lewton took the title and produced a quick, effective (and money-making) retelling of Bronte's Jane Eyre set in Haiti with zombies. To call Lewton "imaginative" doesn't quite cover it. As was always the case with Lewton, whose involvement in a picture was often greater than the typical "producer", this film is very unsettling and truly scary with only minimal special effects. The Body Snatcher is my favorite Lewton film, and it contains my very favorite Boris Karloff performance of a long and glorious career full of great performances. Karloff plays the grave robber, Cabman Gray. As was always the case with Karloff, his subtle performance gave his villainous character a human side. Karloff always took the time as an actor to bring dimensions to his character, as in this film when he apologizes to his horse for having to take her out again on an unsavory mission - "bad news ." says Karloff, who seems truly sad, as he strokes the horse's head and describes the night's work ahead of them; or when he stands over a freshly killed body and gently - absentmindedly - strokes his nearby pet cat.

Karloff was always the master of the lethal, burning stare behind the silky voice that suggested terrible things. Yet, all of Karloff's "monsters" were always very, very human - particularly Frankenstein