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13 of 13 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
"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.
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