“Perhaps better described as ‘poetic fantasies,' these are probably the two most delicate horror films in the Hollywood cinema. Cat People was the first of the series of low-budget movies that Val Lewton produced for RKO in the Forties, and one can agree with Jacques Tourneur that it contains ‘childish' elements that are not transcended; nevertheless, its subtlety and suggestiveness nicely show up the pretentiousness and portentousness of Paul Schrader's recent ‘remake.' The ‘childish' elements are totally eliminated from I Walked With a Zombie: not merely one of the great horror films, but one of the supreme classics of the American cinema, despite the low budget, the obligatory RKO contract players, the short shooting schedule.” --Robin Wood

Cat People

• Directed by Jacques Tourneur. Produced by Val Lewton for RKO. Written by DeWitt Bodeen. Photographed by Nicholas Musaraca. With Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph. (1942, 73 mins, Print from Films Inc.)

I Walked With a Zombie

• Directed by Jacques Tourneur. Produced by Val Lewton for RKO. Written by Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, from an American Weekly story by Inez Wallace. Photographed by J. Roy Hunt. With James Ellison, Frances Dee, Tom Conway, Edith Barrett. (1943, 68 mins, Print from Films Inc.)