The Island of Dr. Moreau
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Movie Reviews of The Island of Dr. Moreau
Movie Review: The Island of Dr. Moreau
Summary: 4 Stars
Based on a novel by H.G. Wells, the greatest sci-fi writer ever. You won't see those types of stunts w/animals anymore. A true "classick" for anyone w/a penchant for the bizarre.Movie Review: man-beast
Summary: 4 Stars
this is a great classic, some great work by Richard Basehart, much better than the remake.Movie Review: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
Summary: 3 Stars
The 1977 horror film "The Island of Dr. Moreau" is a fun surprise for those unacquainted. Part of an unusual class of big-budgeted 1970s American International projects including The Amityville Horror (1979) and Meteor (1979), the film's money shows in the form of a terrific cast, sweeping locales and artful makeup of the Planet of the Apes team. Based on H.G. Wells' The Island Of Dr. Moreau and a remake of the superior Island of Lost Souls in 1932, the film is a variation on the Frankenstein tale with a mad scientist conducting abominable experiments against nature.
Michael York, at the peak of popularity following the success of The Three Musketeers films, plays shipwreck survivor Andrew Braddock who washes ashore an isolated island in the Pacific. He encounters the fortified compound of Dr. Moreau (Burt Lancaster), a menacing presence with an interest in science and floppy hats. Braddock soon notices deformed servants, eerie howls from the jungle and a laboratory where Moreau burns the midnight oil. An assistant, the mercenary rogue Montgomery (Nigel Davenport), keeps to himself and drinks a lot. There's also the lovely Maria (Barbara Carrera), an oddly distant and confused woman who Moreau coddles with great care. Maria and Braddock have their eyes on each other and when they finally consummate their attraction, with the doctor eerily looking on, the candle-lit scenes are surprisingly sexy.
The film builds towards none-too-shocking revelations as Braddock discovers Moreau is conducting genetic altering experiments on animals of the island. The experiments have not succeeded, and Moreau's paradise is inhabited by menacing tribes of mutant animal/men shuffling around in jungle shadows.
When Braddock finally stumbles upon the cave of human beasts, we are introduced to lionmen, tigermen and bearmen, oh my! The makeup is about as complex as Lon Chaney, Jr.'s turn as The Wolf Man, but no matter. You feel genuine sympathy for the creatures. Richard Basehart's performance as "Sayer of the Law," a role Bela Lugosi played in the original, is excellent. Things take a turn for the creepy as Braddock becomes a prisoner of Moreau's experiments, leading to the film's most intense scenes.
If in the right mood, there's great fun to be found in "The Island of Dr. Moreau." I liked Moreau's compound, a tropical oasis barely holding back the vines of the menacing jungle. The movie is served well by the location filming in the Virgin Islands. The direction of TV veteran Don Taylor is adequate, with several jump-from-your-seat scare scenes popular in the day. The conclusion feels abrupt, as Braddock and Maria frantically attempt to escape the chaos of the island. It's abundantly clear Maria is one of Moreau's experiments (her character was a panther woman in the original). In fact, producers unwisely changed the original ending where she reverts to animal form. If you look closely, the final shot of Maria shows her face to be misshapen, with a quick edit creating the weak illusion of a happy ending.
Oh well, this is a great discovery for lovers of old-fashioned horror films, with the fine work of Lancaster and York giving this tale an enjoyable touch of class.
Movie Review: Back to the Island
Summary: 3 Stars
This Late 70's update of The Island of Lost Souls ( wisely retaining H.G. Well's original title) offers up two reunions in addition to its tropical horrors. Make-up artist John Chambers reunites with Don Taylor (both having worked on Escape from the Planet of the Apes in 1971) for this tepid but watchable adaption. Post's indifferent directing sabutages numerous potential horror moments, especially in the revelation of the various Humanimals on the island. The make-up seems dated even for its time (The Apes in Planet of the Apes look better) but perhaps that is why MGM had released this under its cheesy Midnite Movies banner.Castwise, Micheal York does a better job then most have done with that role in other film versions but Barbera Carrea's character suffers from underexposure (well, dramatically speaking) and the hints of her origins are never properly addressed in the movie. Burt Lanchaster plays a formidable and active Moreau and his performance is by far the best in the film. Worth noting, the movie reunited him with former circus buddy Nick Cravat; costar of earlier films w/ Lanchaster such as The Crimson Pirate and The Flame and the Arrow.
In comparison to other film versions, this one plays very well, albiet somewhat lackluster. Not as zany as the 1996 film and certainly an improvement on the 1933 film.
The DVD features a solid transfer although there are 2 blue film blemishes that appear very fast. The disc is pretty bare bones with only the trailer as a supplement. But for 9.99 one can not complain.
If you're already a fan of the film, then get it.
Movie Review: Philosophical Tale Well Told
Summary: 3 Stars
This version of the classic H.G. Wells tale is infinitely superior to the '96 remake. It sustains its reputation because, like all enduring films, it is character driven. In no way do the the creature effects, which are adequately effective, take precedence over the actors' abilities.
The scene where Braddock (Michael York), confined to a cage, struggles to assert his willpower in recounting his childhood memories, remains a truly convincing piece of cinematic acting.
The DVD version, however, is supposedly in widescreen. That's W--I--D--E--S--C--R--E--E--N, ladies and gentlemen. The peripheral view here has been simply narrowed, with the black bars at the top and bottom serving no other purpose than to further restrict a viewer's access to more of the original picture. Is it to censor out the fleeting exposure of Barbara Carrera's nipple? (Nah, can't be... that'd be ridiculous.)
Perhaps the persons at MGM responsible for this DVD transfer should be sent on a retraining course to better understand the concept of widescreen format. Use of the term "widescreen" with regards to this DVD version is basically misrepresentation. The VHS Full Screen version actually provides more picture acreage.
Regardless, the film itself succeeds well in its conveyance of the dangers of amoral scientific advancement, the subjugation of perceived inferiors, and the inhumane versus the humane, all in an entertaining manner.