I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE/THE SEVENTH VICTIM (both 1943)

4 stars

Criterion Collection. 4K UHD+ Blu Ray

Two famous productions from producer Val Lewton, which I very likely saw first on the Double Bills on the Beeb back in the dim and distant. Now presented in splendid 4K restorations from Criterion. These were originally made cheaply as B pictures.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

“Do you believe in witchcraft”, Betsy Connell (Frances Dee) is asked at an interview. She gets the job to be the nurse to the wife of a plantation owner on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Sebastian. What she hasn’t been told is that Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon) is in a catatonic state, which Betsy discovers when she comes across her sleepwalking through the grounds.

She also meets her employer Paul Holland (Tom Conway) and his half brother Wesley Rand (James Ellison). There is clearly tension between the two men. It isn’t long before Betsy has fallen for her boss and she is determined to try and find a cure for his wife. When other possibilities don’t work, the maid Alma, convinces her to take Jessica to see the local Vodou priest…

This is a film built on atmosphere. Probably the most famous part is the spine-tingling walk through the sugar cane where they encounter the blank eyed zombie Carrefour (Darby Jones). We aren’t talking Romero style undead here – rather this is the “traditional” creature, brought back as a slave.

Inspired by an article by Inez Wallace, this is also an uncredited adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre’ (I’ll take their word for it having never read it – I’m guessing there aren’t many undead popping up within it’s pages). Working from a script by Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, director Jacques Tourneur has made a beautifully crafted, often dreamlike classic. He also helmed CAT PEOPLE (1942) and THE LEOPARD MAN (1943) for producer Lewton. Packed with stunning imagery, this 4K release, showcases the use of light and shadow within the cinematography of J. Roy Hunt. The film is genuinely creepy at times.

THE SEVENTH VICTIM

Another fantastic looking 4K, THE SEVENTH VICTIM is probably not as well known as I WALKED, if only because it doesn’t have such a B movie title!

Young Mary Gibson (Kim Hunter, who I always think of Zira in the Planet of the Apes movies) is given news that her sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks) hasn’t paid her tuition fees for her schooling and, more importantly, is missing. She decides to go to New York to try and find her. Visiting the cosmetics company she ran, Mary discovers that her sibling sold the firm several months previously.

Later she discovers her missing relation rented a room above a restaurant, which she left locked – persuading the owners to unlock it, they discover a chair and a noose above it! Curious.

As things become more convoluted, it begins to emerge that her sister may be mixed up in something sinister.

More a mystery than a horror, Hunter is fine as the frightened and perplexed young lady, with Jean Brooks striking as her sister. Unfortunately the script by Charles O’Neal and DeWitt Bodeen is rather drawn out – despite the short running time of 71 minutes – and nothing really happens. Director Mark Robson, who edited CAT PEOPLE (1942) for Lewton, does his best with the material and is aided by the gorgeous cinematography of Nicholas Musuraca.

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

You get a 4K UHD disc of the films which has a few of the extras on it and a Blu-ray with the films and the rest of special features.

Audio commentary on ‘I Walked with a Zombie’ featuring authors Kim Newman and Stephen Jones from 2005

Audio commentary on ‘The Seventh Victim’ featuring film historian Steve Haberman

Deliver Us From Evil: Interview with film critic and historian Imogen Sara Smith (47 mins): talking about the two films plus Lewton’s other work.

Various audio excerpts from Adam Roche’s podcast ‘The Secret History of Hollywood’ covering the films and the actors Jean Brooks and Tom Conway

Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy (2005) (53 mins): an excellent documentary featuring Newman; Val E. Lewton, son of producer Val Lewton; filmmakers William Friedkin, Guillermo del Toro, George A. Romero, John Landis, and Robert Wise plus others.

The Origins of the Zombie from Haiti to the US (12 mins): exploring the origins of Vodou and zombies

Trailers for both movies

PLUS: Essays by critics Chris Fujiwara and Lucy Sante and a new illustration by Katherine Lam.