Thursday, August 23, 2012

The Leopard Man and I Walked With a Zombie



First, let me just say I love how the title of this post is also a sentence.

My love of the 1982 Cat People resulted in a curiosity about the films of Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur, the men behind the original version of the movie. By this point in 1982, I had already seen the original, 1942 version of Cat People, and liked it. So when two more Lewton films came to the York Theater, I was all over it.

Of the two, I Walked With a Zombie is definitely the better and more entertaining movie. It's loosely-based-on-Jane-Eyre-storyline gives it a nice gothic romantic punch, plus, zombies!

The second movie, despite having the title The Leopard Man, it's not a quasi Cat People sequel, and has nothing to do with any kind of were-people at all. Ultimately, there's nothing supernatural about its story.

The most memorable scene from the movie is near the beginning, when a young woman who is afraid of the dark heads home after a trip to the grocer's. It left an instant impression, and I've never forgotten it...




I found the rest of the movie to be a tad boring, at least in comparison to I Walked With a Zombie (because, duh, zombies), but was definitely glad I saw it. I can thank the 1982 Cat People for introducing me to the Lewton and Tourneur oeuvres, and as I got older, I would appreciate their moody and suggestive approach to horror all the more.

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