Product Details

• Actors: Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi, Kathleen Burke
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: September 16, 1997
• Run Time: 71 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302843200
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,119 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When you've got Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi, how can you go wrong? Shipwreck victim Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) is stranded on an island run by the mysterious Dr. Moreau (Laughton). Moreau is hospitable enough, but the jungle is full of menacing shapes--and what about those ominous references to the House of Pain? Parker gradually learns of Moreau's unholy experiments and worries that he'll never escape. Though it has aged a bit, Island of Lost Souls is surprisingly spine-tingling, particularly the horrifying climax. Light and shadows are used especially well--occasionally, Moreau speaks with his face entirely hidden, except for his glittering eyes. Laughton turns in yet another superbly evil performance and even the somewhat worse-for-wear Lugosi is creepy as the pronouncer of the law. ("Are we not men?" Well, no, not exactly.) This is a nicely chilling classic that may even make you think twice about modern science's experimentation with genetics. Don't miss it. Remade as The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1977 and 1996. --Ali Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what in the Sam Hill is going on here!, April 10, 2005

By 

RCB (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Island of Lost Souls / Mystery of the Wax Museum (DVD)

I am getting sick of looking at that stupid "Release date to be announced: The release date for this video has not been finalized." Is it ever going to be finalized? Before long, we will be going into the second year of looking at that stupid ad without being able to purchase the DVD! I would like to say something good about the film, but I won't until I can buy it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charles Laughton in one of the best Thirties horror films, September 29, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Island of Lost Souls [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Island of Lost Souls," the 1932 adaptation of H. G. Wells' "Island of Dr. Moreau," features Charles Laughton in one of the best mad scientist performances you are going to find. This is not the ranting mad genius personified by Colin Clive in "Frankenstein," but a much more tempered madman who provides less obvious hints as to his insanity. The story begins with Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) being rescued from the sea by the ship Covena, which is delivering animals in cages to Dr. Moreau's Island. After a fight with the ship's captain, Parker ends up on the island, where the good doctor takes his visitor into his home, after using his whip to scare away man-like creatures in the jungle. On his island retreat, Moreau has been experimenting with turning animals into creatures capable of speaking. With Parker on the island Moreau can find out if Lota (Kathleen Burke), who has been evolved from a panther, can bear a child. But when Parker discovers Moreau in his "house of pain," doing vivisection, the horrible truth of what is happening on the island comes out. Meanwhile, Parker's fiancé, Ruth (Leila Hyams), arrives looking for her beloved.

One of the most fascinating parts of this nightmarish film is how Moreau plays god with not only the bodies but also the minds of his creation. He has taught them "the law," which is not to walk on all fours and not to spill blood. As Bela Lugosi, playing the Sayer of the Law solemnly asks: "Are we not men?" It is when the animal-men come to a different answer to that question that "Island of Lost Souls" proves itself to be one of the best horror films of the 1930s. Director Erle C. Kenton does the most with the atmospheric setting, giving Laughton a perfect stage for his mad experiments. You will never recognize them, but both Buster Crabbe and Alan Ladd appear as beast men (yes, Randolph Scott is in the film, but he has a bit part as a "real" human). This story has been remade, as both uncredited versions (1959's "Terror Is a Man" and 1972's "The Twilight People") as well as under the novel's title in 1977, with Burt Lancaster as the title doctor, and again in 1996 with Marlon Brando. But with all things considered, "Island of Lost Souls" remains the best of the bunch, even though it offended the author. In fact, it was banned in England and parts of the United States (I assume because of the implied bestiality), which is always a strong recommendation that a horror film deserves to be checked out at least once.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars also waiting, July 21, 2005

By 

JAMES SIMON (Fairfield,ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Island of Lost Souls / Mystery of the Wax Museum (DVD)

I also have seen this "release date to be announced" going on the second year.Of course the second movie on this bill can be gotten on the double disc of the" House of the wax museum" with vincent price, put out by warner bros. last year.But there are many of us that would love to have the first feature.....say, I have an idea,.....why don't all of us on this web site meet at the empire state building in 2010 in anticipation of acquiring this disc!