Horrorfest 2013: Island of Lost Souls

Here's another in a long line of flicks I read about as a kid but never got around to seeing -- until now. 1932's ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, an adaptation of H.G. Wells' ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. I remember seeing pictures of Moreau's man-beasts, particularly Bela Lugosi, in my monster books as a kid, so I was excited to finally watch the flick.

Charles Laughton stars as Dr. Moreau, a mad scientist who has been chased out of civilized society and now lives on a secluded island where he carries out his experiments in peace. That is, until a castaway (Richard Arlen) ends up on the island and a tragic end for Moreau quickly approaches.

The island is crawling with beast-like men who appear to be half man, half animal, led by Bela Lugosi, as well as a "panther woman" (Kathleen Burke). Turns out Moreau has been experimenting first on plants, now on animals, in an attempt to rush along the evolutionary process and transform animals into more human-like creatures. In doing so, he employs unethical, torturous methods of surgery, and seems not to care if he hurts his subjects, and relishes the fact that he is their God.

There's some pretty risque stuff here for a flick from 1932, including a major plot element revolving around Moreau's attempts to get the castaway to mate with the panther girl in an effort to see just how human she can be.

Laughton is great as Moreau, so slimy, corrupt and pleased with himself that it's amazing this is the same guy who turned in a heartbreaking portrayel as Quasmido in the HUNCHBACK remake a few years later.

The other standout here is the makeup effects. There is a wide variety of different creatures in this film, as opposed to the one or two you might get in other horror movies of the era. There are so many, they're relegated to background extras. Unfortunately there's no credit on the movie for makeup so we may never know who was responsible for all these grotesque designs.