Director: Jacques Tourneur
Year: 1943
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Zombie
Plot:
Hoping to get away from a stressful relationship, a nurse takes a job looking after a bedridden millionaire in Haiti, but when she starts to stay there longer, the more she finds the entire situation encased in a series of voodoo-driven rites and ceremonies intended to ward off her employer.
Review:
Overall, this one was quite an enjoyable, if slightly flawed, effort. One of the main things holding this one back is the film's utterly bland and snail-like pacing, which is the common factor found in these types of films. There are so many scenes here in the first half that do nothing overall and are really just there to make the film seem like an appropriate length before it ends, since so little of the film actually comes off as scary. Since so many of these scenes are filled with her initial arrival and meeting with the two brothers who are engaged in their own mini-squabble over the afflicted wife's treatment, these scenes are in general quite dull and bland which simply hold off the main horror sections of the film to rather isolated section in the second half as it has to get through dry, dull sections up front.
As well, the decision to include the plot point of his brothers' drinking problems is completely unnecessary, as they just make the film that much longer and are not that interesting to have play out, and really sets the stage for the usually-talkative explanation sequence, which doesn't really go anywhere here. The only other flaw here is the completely inane reasoning given for them being targeted, as it really makes no sense and goes against what she tells them later on, which should've protected them instead, and it seems somewhat odd as an explanation.
Though these issues hold this one back, it does have some positive elements at work here. One of the better features here is the fact that there's some rather creepy and chilling work done on the inclusion of the voodoo rituals at the compound, which are some of the film's most chilling moments. Starting with the deeply-rousing tribal drumming that's heard coming from deep in the jungle, sounding like they're all around them, and it really starts in on that driving feel, where the otherworldly feel and chilling-by-association nature make this quite creepy while starting the other big voodoo-led activities.
From the insanely chilling walk-through of the sugarcane fields with the zombified woman in the moonlight, while the effectively eerie drumming comes into play during the darting shots of them amongst the towering plants, the absolutely creepy first encounter with the zombie, and then encountering the rather thrilling ceremony that takes place at their camp. Other fun scenes include the absolutely wild and crazy retrieval scenes where they attempt to bring her back to camp in her zombie-like state several times, especially since the latter one turns into the outrageously fun finale that takes place across the island, finally leading into the sea for a fantastic finish to this one. Alongside the rather well-done atmosphere from the film, these here really work nicely for this one.
Overview: ***/5
A decent if ultimately flawed early zombie film, this one has more historical value than anything else, even if there are some likable enough elements present here to hold it off against the flaws. Those with an interest in this kind of genre fare, who appreciate this era of the genre, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have the most to like here, as most others should heed caution.
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