I Walked with a Zombie 4K 1943 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

Canadian nurse Betsy Connell arrives on a Caribbean island to care for Jessica Holland, the wife of a wealthy farmer. Her patient lives in an incomprehensible twilight state: she is speechless, moves like the living dead, and wanders like a ghost at night. Betsy believes Jessica is suffering from a nervous disorder when she learns that the locals practice a voodoo cult.

Review 4K Movie

A look from the XXI century is unlikely to see Jacques Tourneur's film as a horror movie. Now it is rather a deep drama with a slight touch of mysticism. 'I Walked with a Zombie' is a movie primarily about love - a man and a woman, mother and son, brotherly love. It's about mutual and undivided love. That's the beauty of it. That's how I saw this masterpiece.

'There is no beauty here - only death and decay'.

I would beg to differ with these words of Wesley Rand, spoken at the beginning of the movie, on the yacht. Jacques Tourneur's film is permeated with beauty. The main characters alone are worth a lot. One personifies the beauty of the living, and the other - dead. As Betsy's nurse, the lovely Frances Dee. Betsy is an unambiguously positive character (by the way, there are no negative characters in the movie at all). She tries with all her heart to help the hopelessly ill Jessica. Even the threat of losing her job, and possibly her life, does not stop her. The role of Jessica is played by Christine Gordon. Her character does not utter a single word during the whole movie. Jessica evokes sincere sympathy and until the very end the viewer hopes for her happy cure.

Tom Conway played the role of Jessica's husband - the owner of sugar plantations Paul Holand. The image of Paul, in my opinion, is a classic successful American man of the 40s. He understands perfectly well that he will never be able to find marital happiness with Jessica, but at the same time he is faithful to her, despite the mutual affection for the nurse Betsy. A much more interesting character is Wesley Rand (James Ellison). Paul's brother, he appears to be a drunken underachiever on the surface. But it is he who will finally solve the problem of the Holand family. In a very unexpected and very tragic way. As a great acting job, I would also single out Teresa Harris, who played the Hollands' talkative maid, Alma. The character of Wesley Rand's mother looked a bit ridiculous, due to the fact that the actress Edith Barrett is too young in appearance.

The movie 'I Walked with a Zombie' evokes very different feelings. Along with genuine fascination, which not once makes you smile involuntarily, it can also cause a slight fear. There are several scenes that send chills down your spine. The creepy sight of Karefur, the guardian of the crossroads, is one of them. His unblinking, bulging eyes look very intimidating - great job by actor Darby Jones. Relentless rhythms of tamtams also add to the mysterious atmosphere.

The ending of the movie is really gorgeous - tragic and meaningful. Despite the fact that the movie was made almost seven decades ago, modern filmmakers have something to learn from Jacques Tourneur. The picture is shot very beautifully, very refined and elegant. This fully applies to the visuals and to the acting. The actors' play is light, casual, but at the same time strict, restrained, nothing superfluous. The film is black-and-white, but pay attention to how all shades of tropical landscapes are rendered with just two colors. When evaluating classic pictures, it's often a tinkerer's job to discount the legendary status of the movie or the time it was made. 'I Walked with a Zombie' is one of those few masterpieces of movie classics that I give the highest rating to with a pure heart.