Criterion has (finally) released "I Walked with a Zombie" and "The Seventh Victim" on 4K this week

Awesome! I love Val Lewton movies

I’m not a horror fan at all, but I like both movies.

I want the coat.

[quote] I’m not a horror fan at all, but I like both movies.

When people say they don’t like horror, they’re usually talking about movies like Saw. I suppose the Lewton films are horror in some sense, but they’re certainly not scary in the same way something like Night Of The Living Dead is scary. They’re very well made low budget features, very stylish. Curse of the Cat people is a masterpiece.

I love Curse of the Cat People.

Cat People is great, I love The Leopard Man, too

Frances Dee never looked more beautiful than she did in “I Walked With a Zombie,” loosely based on “Jane Eyre.” Everything about the Lewton films, the art direction and cinematography, are so evocative. The tall, austerely lovely woman who played the zombified first wife is such an unusual physical type for a ‘40s film.

One of the most remarkable things about “The Seventh Victim” is that on a low budget and cheap sets, it really does summon up a convincing atmosphere of NYC, Greenwich Village and the subway system there. Though NY is always in flux and always has been, its essential DNA remains the same and it’s recognizable here, no doubt because Lewton himself lived in the Village for a time.

I think part of what makes all of the Lewton-produced horror films so memorable is that they are so profoundly atmospheric. Despite the differences in story and setting between them, they all almost seem to exist in the same universe—and some of them actually do, with characters like Dr. Judd appearing in both the “Cat People” films and “The Seventh Victim”. I love all of them, but “The Seventh Victim” is easily my favorite of the lot. I also love “Cat People” and “The Leopard Man”.