Mon 7 May 2018
A Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932).
Posted by Steve under Horror movies , Reviews[3] Comments
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. Paramount Pictures, 1932. Charles Laughton (Dr. Moreau), Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi, Kathleen Burke, Arthur Hohl, Stanley Fields. Screenplay by Waldemar Young & Philip Wylie, based on the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells. Director: Erle C. Kenton.
Gawd, what a great film! Stunning sets, great acting, and a really well-constructed script. The part where Richard Arlen first lands on the Island and Charles Laughton keeps cracking his whip at half-seen things evokes shivers in even the most sophisticated horror-film addicts precisely because it plays on sophistication: the suspicion that someday this obese gargoyle will be without his whip, and the question of what will happen then.
When the answer to that question comes, it lives right up to every expectation. On reflection, and considering that Erle C. Kenton, who directed this, also helmed House of Frankenstein / Dracula and Salome, Where She Danced, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate him as a potential auteur.
May 7th, 2018 at 10:11 pm
Splendid ‘orrors, brought to life both by the script, right direction, and a great cast. Laughton is clearly enjoying playing Moreau, and it shows.
I don’t know if a case can be made for Kenton as an auteur, but here he is inspired.
May 7th, 2018 at 11:21 pm
Paramount studios always seemed to beat out most of Universal’s classic monsters with a real horrific atmosphere in their few 1930s films in this genre. And their early forties’ ghost story “The Uninvited” and horror comedy “The Ghost Breakers” are timeless masterpieces.
May 8th, 2018 at 7:29 am
Looking back at this, I’m dazzled by Laughton’s portrayal of the Mad Doctor as Naughty Boy.