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Awix (3310 KP) rated I Walked with a Zombie (1943) in Movies

Jan 8, 2020 (Updated Jan 8, 2020)

I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

1943 | Horror, Romance

9.0

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

One of the granddaddies of the modern zombie movie is almost unrecognisable as such: no blood to speak of and the plot is derived from a novel by Charlotte Bronte. Nice young nurse goes off to morbid, doomy Caribbean island to care for the creepy wife of her employer (can't speak, has no will of her own following strange 'fever'); finds herself falling for her boss (though God knows why, he's so disagreeable). Perhaps the local voodoo spirits can help cure the afflicted woman?

A zombie movie in the traditional sense, and all the creepier for it. The plot is rather melodramatic, and the gentility of the film is quite amusing to the modern eye (male worshippers at a voodoo ritual all turn up in suits and ties), but it scores hugely for atmosphere, though, and there are some genuinely eerie sequences. Usual studied ambiguity and lack of overt 'horror' you often get in Lewton movies, but this just adds to the sense that this is a classy piece of work.

Kudos

Sara Cox (1845 KP) rated The Familiars in Books

Mar 11, 2020

The Familiars

Stacey Halls | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Thriller

8.5

(8 Ratings)

Book Rating

I do like a good historic fiction and this one intrigued me as I read the blurb. A pregnant woman who has previously had miscarriages meets a woman who is a midwife, but is also accused of being a witch. This is a story with an underlying theme (or not so underlying) of women striving for more but being trapped by a society run by men who are trying to keep women at a lower status and importance of themselves, while striving to continue to maintain authority and bloodlines. A story of one woman who uses the resources available to her and her intelligence to make situations favour her wants, needs and justices. The Familiars and the concept of The Familiars within the story deemed vague, unimportant and not pressed upon, I'm not entirely sure if their relevance, in comparison to these themes of strong women in a male dominated society of 1600s Britain. If you like Jessie Burton, you will love Stacey Halls! And you will love this!