I Walked With a Zombie

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I Walked With a Zombie

1943

1h 9m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

40 Reviews

74%

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5,000+ Ratings

Canadian nurse Betsy Connell (Frances Dee) is hired to care for Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon), a woman on a Caribbean sugar plantation, who has a bizarre condition. The mysterious affliction baffles Betsy but when she falls for Jessica's husband, Paul (Tom Conway), she is determined to make him happy by curing his wife. However, in her quest, Betsy is drawn into the island's dark culture of voodoo and zombies and begins to uncover the Holland family's sinister secrets.

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Critics Consensus

Evocative direction by Jacques Tourneur collides with the low-rent production values of exploitateer Val Lewton in I Walked with a Zombie, a sultry sleeper that's simultaneously smarmy, eloquent and fascinating.

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Chuck Bowen

Slant Magazine

Oct 21, 2024

Controversial issues imbue the gothic hugger-mugger of this film and The Seventh Victim with intimacy and intensity.

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John L. Scott

Los Angeles Times

Sep 28, 2022

Tourneur apparently has that art of generating the "mystic atmosphere," which is so important in these eerie film plays.

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Wanda Hale

New York Daily News

Sep 28, 2022

2.5/4

It's good "escape" stuff, this RKO Radio production... A most dramatic beginning is offset by the confusion in the ending, but it will still give you the creeps, pretty nearly all the way through.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Dec 30, 2025

3.5/4

A film that’s as poetic and dreamlike as it is suspenseful.

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Ed Kowalewski

Buffalo News

Sep 28, 2022

As a pure shocker, I Walked with a Zombie has its moments. Weird lighting effects and the Calypso music and singing of Sir Lancelot heighten the eerie illusion.

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Vance King

Motion Picture Herald (Exhibitors Herald)

Sep 28, 2022

Its many ingredients, most of them calculated to tingle the spine, are woven by producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourner in such fashion as to make them agreeable to the fans seeking thrills.

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Liam D

@Mediawatcher2003 2 days ago

This isn’t the best horror movie from producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur but it takes its low budget and make a spooky atmospheric film that isn’t quite scary but it is still very solid

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Robert P

@Superbad 5 days ago

I Walked With a Zombie is a *4* star Movie!

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Ollie W

@RT90619198 Aug 10, 2026

Very different from what would become the typical zombie movie. It is spooky in places but is a character-driven love story as much as a horror film. Good acting, an interesting location, and a charming time capsule of a time gone by.

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Homu L

@AkemiLord May 3, 2026

Fantastic movie. I really enjoyed watching this. Great film!

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DanTheMan 2

@DanTheMan2150AD Oct 5, 2025

A rather existential, darkly poetic tale of undying love and sappy romantic melodrama, woven with Caribbean folklore, I Walked with a Zombie creeps along with eerie tread, a kind of Jane Eyre meets the undead, if you will. This slow, devastating, dark thing attempts to balance its many ingredients with a mystic atmosphere, but sadly ends up overcrowded with hokey dialogue and ponderous acting. The evocative direction of Jacques Tourneur clashes poorly with the low-budget production values and a thoroughly unengaging love story that takes centre stage, rendering this film a sultry sleeper, despite its promise of voodoo zombies roaming the plantation. The lighting, shadows, exotic setting, and music all contribute to the disconcerting atmosphere, but its slow pace and demand to be taken seriously do not align with the film's own internal logic; the two distinct narrative threads feel grossly misaligned with one another. It even offers multiple explanations for the events depicted without definitively endorsing any of them, which results in an immensely dissatisfying viewing experience. While there are a few creepy moments, mainly the fleeting appearances of the towering Carrefour, I Walked with a Zombie didn't do enough to engage me. It ultimately feels woefully underdeveloped as a horror film and painfully formulaic in its portrayal of human relations, even if it is quite fascinating from a production perspective.

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Lau S

@LaurainSilentill Jul 29, 2025

I love this horror movie! Damn great!

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Jacques Tourneur

Director

James Ellison

Wesley Rand

Frances Dee

Betsy Connell

Tom Conway

Paul Holland

Edith Barrett

Mrs. Rand

James Bell

Dr. Maxwell

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Synopsis

Canadian nurse Betsy Connell (Frances Dee) is hired to care for Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon), a woman on a Caribbean sugar plantation, who has a bizarre condition. The mysterious affliction baffles Betsy but when she falls for Jessica's husband, Paul (Tom Conway), she is determined to make him happy by curing his wife. However, in her quest, Betsy is drawn into the island's dark culture of voodoo and zombies and begins to uncover the Holland family's sinister secrets.

Director: Jacques Tourneur
Producer: Val Lewton
Screenwriter: Charlotte Brontë, Inez Wallace, Curt Siodmak, Ardel Wray
Production Co: RKO Pictures
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 8, 1943, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 9m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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