Eyrie

I Walked with a Zombie

(1943)

Like the first Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur collaboration, Cat People, this moody pic explores the intersection of psychiatry and the supernatural, but unlike the earlier film, this one never comes down solidly on either side. Also as in Cat People, a safe, sane female alternative is available for the (rather lame) male lead. In this case, the safe alternative's role as nurse to the permanently damaged wife--and her noble self-restraint in the face of love--lends a vague Brontean air to the proceedings.