I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

"There's no beauty here- only death and decay."

This short film is an instructive reminder that, before 1968 and George A. Romero, zombies were a voodoo, Caribbean thing and not somerging that would ever be done without a Caribbean connection- and yes, this being 1943, there is indeed casual racism all over the place. But what's really surprising is that this isn't an action-filled horror film as such but a small-scale character drama. The zombie in question is just a catatonic woman who may have briefly died; she isn't after you, she doesn't want your brain, and it's even ambiguous whether anything supernatural happened at all. The character of Carrefour is scary to look at, but I wouldn't call this a horror film.

Still, once you accept that this is a simple drama about a burgeoning connection between a nice girl and a man from nasty slave-owning stock who struggles with his sadistic urges. There's even a nice twist at the end. Just be aware of the sort of film this is and be prepared for the cadual