One of several well-regarded collaborations between director Jacques Tourneur and producer Val Lewton, I Walked With a Zombie follows a nurse as she moves to the Caribbean to care for a plantation owner’s strangely afflicted wife. Tourneur uses shadows and detached narration to create an indelible mood, and quietly emphasizes the guilt that seems to hover over the island and its inhabitants. It’s a beautifully made film, sad and tragic, and one that leaves much open to interpretation.
—Jason Panella