Island of Terror (1966) Reviews

• The only horror movie that scared me when I was a teen.

  bradkingsley2003-07-20

  It was the early 70's when I first saw Island of Terror on a Saturday late night horror show called Shock Theatre. I've always been a fan of Peter Cushing and his films so when I read that he was in it that made it a must see. We were hearing more and more about cancer research so this movie had relevence to the times. Growing up as a youngster in a rural area surrounded by livestock, the opening scene with the dead horse spooked me. At the time I first saw the film, the idea of Cancer research going haywire was a possiblilty and having your bones sucked out of your body while you were alive sent chills through my body. As the creatures were shown more and more, took more victims in varying fashions, more and more lights were turned on in my living room where I was watching the movie. The ending put the icing on the cake and I slept with the lights on for about a week. I had seen many horror movies including The Blob, but this was the only one to really get me sacred and keep me scared. I strongly recommend this movie to everyone. It's got suspence, surprises, a bit of humor, some horror, is just an enjoyable movie to watch and is one of my favorites. It's been many years since I've seen the movie so I just ordered a copy to enjoy again and again. Definately a classic for anyone's movie library. I've noticed some reviews talking about how cheap the special effects were and the weak story/plot line, but these are all comparing the film to the standards of todays filmaking. As a child I didn't notice any of the effects simplistics. I was looking for some entertainment and a good late night scare, and Island of Terror delivered.

• Intelligent enjoyable horror from Hammer master Terrence Fisher

  lyrad-ecyoj2005-02-03

  A strong cast and a strong premise make this a hugely enjoyable 'under siege' monster flick. Peter Cushing, Edward Judd and Eddie Byrne head a cast of stalwart British character actors that includes the ever reliable Sam Kydd and Niall MacGinnis, as they try to uncover the truth behind the gruesome deaths occurring on their lonely fog shrouded island. It's a great little horror film that succeeds due to its excellent narrative pace, its logical progression and its unpretentious nature. Despite its relatively low profile the film is on a par with many of the best Hammer films being made at the time. This should be no surprise as the director is none other than the man calling the shots on much of Hammer's most admired output - Terrence Fisher. He handled most of the Frankenstein movies and a number of the Dracula films, including the startling debuts in each case. He was also responsible for The Mummy, Curse of the Werewolf, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Gorgon. With such a pedigree of atmospheric chillers Island of Terror continues that success but manages to feel new and fresh. Malcolm Lockyer (Dr Who and the Daleks) provides the music and special mention should be made of the great use of Barry Gray's electronic sound effects. Gray was of course the man responsible for the grand music that accompanied most of Gerry Anderson's marionette series and he knew how build tension with quietly suspenseful sound too. The special electronic sound FX that swell out of the gloom adds a foreboding tone to the proceedings whenever the monstrous silicates are near. Are the monsters when finally revealed a bit silly looking? - maybe to modern eyes, but for this reviewer their slow progress and ever multiplying numbers rank up the tension nonetheless. And their method of reproduction is revolting in the best possible way. Highly recommended for fans of Cushing, Fisher and British horror.

• delightfully entertaining and great fun!

  FortySecondStreetFreak2003-04-03

  When on a remote island community a corpse is discovered completely devoid of bone, the local police constable (Sam Kydd) calls in Dr. Landers (Eddie Bryne) who is at a loss to explain. He goes to the mainland to see Dr. Stanley (Peter Cushing) a pathologist. Stanley and Landers go to David West (Edward Judd) who is an expert on bone disease. Intrigued by the bizarre symptoms, West's girlfriend Toni Merril (Carole Gray) follow Landers back to the island. They discover that well-known cancer specialist Dr. Philips has been doing experiments on the island. They discover Philips and his colleagues' dead, the bodies boneless. As the Doctors search through Philip's notes they discover he was trying to create a living organism to attack cancer cells, but something went wrong and he ended up creating a silicone based creature that lives off animal bone. These creatures, which Stanley names 'Silicates', are roaming the island...... Made by obscure British company 'Planet Productions' this great little flick was produced by Richard Gordon who also gave us the cult favourite `Fiend Without a Face'. With the expert hand of Hammer Director Terence Fisher at the helm, Gordon has produced a similarly grotesque set of creatures to terrorize his high-class cast. True the 'Silicates' are rather funny looking, like huge rubber cow pats with a vacuum cleaner attachments that they use to grab their victims with, and suffer from the old zombie problem of moving very slowly, but they make for a wonderful sight gliding along in search of food and the manner of death they deal out is so horrible (having your bones dissolved and sucked out while alive) that damaging humour is kept at bay. There are some great attack sequences as various cast members are digested with nicely disgusting slurping sounds by the creatures whom during one sequence even drop out of the trees! More fun is had when they divide and what looks like a gallon of watery tinned spaghetti flows out! They are a bizarre and wonderfully entertaining creation. The cast is in top form with Peter Cushing in particular giving us a delightful turn as the pathologist with a welcome streak of gentle humour. It's a role that only Cushing could play with this amount of laid back ease and he is a joy to watch. Edward Judd is nicely stoic and handles his scenes with Cushing well, showing he was a much under-used actor. Carole Grays character is the only weak link, as she is strictly the cliché woman in peril sort who is given little to do. Thankfully her love interest scenes with Judd are few and short. The island atmosphere is captured well and Fisher makes what would normally be a tranquil setting a place of lurking menace. He also takes the viewer by surprise with his treatment of some of the characters, never letting his audience get too complacent in the expectations. Add to all this a lean and never wasted running time, a suitably manic and funky soundtrack composition plus a typically cynical '60s epilogue and you have a film that should be much more widely known and available. Planet Productions' also made `Night of the Big Heat', once again with Cushing and Directed by Fisher but this time throwing Christopher Lee into the mix as well and both these films, although `Island of Terror' is very much superior, both are worth tracking down. In these days where the UK only makes small scale independent, and normally U.S influenced horror films this movie reminds us that Britain once produced some unique and delightfully entertaining genre pieces. Great fun!

• Generally Enjoyable Sci-Fi Horror

  Muldwych2010-03-02

  A reclusive scientist working on a cancer cure inadvertently unleashes deadly creatures onto the local population, turning it into an...Island Of Terror! 'Island Of Terror' is an interesting midpoint between 50s sci-fi and 60s Hammer horror - too light for what Hammer and Amicus usually produced, but their gravitational pull is evident. There's something very Quatermass about science unleashing havoc, yet science also providing the solution. There's a nice element of mystery to set the scene, with people being brutally murdered off-screen and their corpses being discovered sans bones, but at the same time, you are left in no doubt that there must be some connection with the scientist up in the manor house and his secretive experiments. Soon enough, the horror he unleashes becomes apparent, and it's up to the three 'responsible' scientists, played by Edward Judd, Peter Cushing, and Eddie Byrne, for whom the film goes to great pains to show how responsible they are as they wisely spend a lot of time studying notes before taking action and applying science methodically, while the uneducated locals must wait patiently because science takes time and there's a process to things. Yes, there are monsters coming over the hill, but there's a procedure to everything and it has to be followed. One can't really disagree with any of this, but the way in which the film portrays the scientific method if anything, shows how long ago it was held in such high regard - it's just hard to imagine a film doing this today. The nature and form of the monsters themselves instantly brings to mind the classic Star Trek episode 'Devil In The Dark', although their appearance and design is more classic Doctor Who. Which is quite fitting, given that Quatermass inspired early Doctor Who, lead Peter Cushing had been playing him on the big screen for the last two years, and both 'Dr Who & The Daleks' and 'Island Of Terror' were scored by Malcolm Lockyer. Cushing, I have to say, is wonderful in this film. A far cry from the sombre puritans or mad scientists he would soon become well-known for, here, he is dashing, rounded, and somehow far more natural in his performance. This is more of the Peter Cushing the world used to see before horror films took over his life and it's great to see within the part of his filmography I'm more interested in. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast are extremely theatrical by comparison, with Edward Judd getting very declarative by the end - he reminds me of the way Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes would practically give speeches on the proper order of things before the closing credits. I'm almost expecting him to turn to the quivering frequently-Carole Gray and say 'Don't worry, my dear - science will save you!' Nonetheless, Judd is the archetypal square-jawed hero and fits the part. Director Terence Fisher was a firmly-established horror veteran by this point, with the Dracula series and one of my favorites, 'The Gorgon' his recent successes. Having seen the latter again fairly recently, I noticed the same approach to mood lighting, although this time around, the 'big reveal' happens earlier, and Fisher leaves the design team to breathe life into the antagonists of the piece. I think he would have gotten away with it for the most part, but for aspects of the design (read: appendages) that require puppetmasters more skilled than those on offer for them to stand a snowflake's chance in hell of convincing the viewer. They work fine when they're hovering menacingly around a door frame, but not so much when the dreaded miscreation they're attached to shuffles into view. The only reason it even half-works is because the cast face their foes with the same conviction the Doctor Who stars were so frequently seen to give down on the sound stages of Lime Grove. Less defensible, unfortunately, is Malcolm Lockyer's frequently light and fluffy score. His trademark cues and melodies worked wonders in 1965's 'Dr Who & The Daleks', where the words 'kids matinée' were practically stamped into Roy Castle's forehead, but it's hard to feel a sense of creeping foreboding in 'Island Of Terror' when the camera is panning through the eerie, deserted scientist's mansion accompanied by xylophone motifs. This is a film where the production values need every other department on board to help project a convincingly menacing atmosphere - not have the composer imagining cartoon bees dancing on toadstools. Again, this underscores for me how the film sits between two genres and no-one's fully made up their minds which way it should go. Putting all these elements together, I find myself giving 'Island Of Terror' a 6 out of 10. I'm frequently drawn to Peter Cushing like a magnet, and he's in fine form here. I love the idea behind the monsters of the piece, and the respect given to science as it triumphs over all when used properly. Alas, the creatures' design needed a slight revision on the drawing board under the title 'Let's be realistic about what we're able to do here', while James Bernard should have been placed in the conductor's chair. A pleasing effort, and worth a look especially if sci-fi of the period appeals.

• Island of Terror: Passable 60's cheesefest

  Platypuschow2018-11-04

  Starring horror legend Peter Cushing Island of Terror tells the story of the discovery of a messy boneless corpse on a secluded British island. When an investigation is done they discover that the island is becoming infested with horrible creatures that put the towns population at threat! Created by many of the same people who brought us the original Hammer Horror classics this looks great for its age and even the rubber monsters are better than you'd imagine. Sure it's goofy, cheesy and even Cushing isn't exactly on form here but it's entertaining enough stuff for fans of the genre. If you can get past the silliness of it all and stomach the sight of Peter Cushing trying to get into a threesome then there is entertainment value to be had. The Good: Interesting beasties Ahead of its time The Bad: Leading lady poorly used Seven different types of cheese Things I Learnt From This Movie: Solitaire was Peter Cushings second choice Working lighters weren't in the budget