ISLE OF THE DEAD

It is the early 1900’s during the infamous Balkan Wars. Greek general Pherides (Karloff) visits his deceased wife’s resting place with reporter Oliver Davis (Mark Cramer). It is a cemetery located on a nearby desolate island. To Pherides horror, the tomb is empty, and apparently desecrated. Looking for answers, Pherides with his colleague stumble across a bizarre family residing on the isle. It transpires that the group hold an occult philosophy close to their hearts which indeed keeps them captive in the remote islet. Although only planning to stay a night, Pherides and Davis are forced to extend their stay as way of quarantine. It seems that the plague is working its way through the party. But Kyra (Helene Thimig) is convinced that Dr Drossos assessment of the plague is erroneous. She believes that Thea (Ellen Drew), a young nurse within the troop, is actually an antediluvian vampire! (A "Varvoloka" , according to Greek legend). Can the general use his military aptitude to put a stop to the live ebbing away? Or are his attempts no match for the eternal supernatural…?

Russian born Val Lewton has an impressive CV from his time with RKO as a Producer. With such seminal titles as Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie and The Body Snatcher, Lewton carved himself a niche the low budget Horror market in the early 1940’s. Isle of the Dead is another interesting piece with a very unique setting.

The film is apparently based on Swiss artist Arnold Böcklin’s haunting painting of the same name. (Its worth ‘Googling’ the piece as it is a striking work of art I have to say). The movie is heavy on atmosphere but its lethargic pace does hamper the movie somewhat. Although absorbing throughout, I was surprised to read the run time was a mere 72 minutes. It did seem a lot longer! It is worth sticking with the movie though as the surreal climax has some wonderfully creepy moments.

Karloff, naturally, is as watchable as ever. But what is interesting to note is the fact that the eeriness of the film owes very little to the horror maestro himself. Instead, with the paranoid ambience builds nicely within the bleak environment, General Pherides cocksure character from the opening frames is steadily destabilized, as Karloff portrays a man succumbing to his worst fears.

Whilst I appreciate the lack of action may be enough to put off contemporary horror punters, it still acts as a shining example of how sinister tone can still be achieved despite budgetary constraints. It seems the surfeit of ‘no budget’ efforts surfacing these days are all too willing to take on a comedic feel to mask the lack of finances. Director Mark Robson may not have given us a classic, but I will take a movie like this over an unimaginative zombie yarn any witching hour of the week!

The print itself is pretty good and the sound fares better then the majority of the cheaply produced efforts I have watched recently. It is heart-warming to see Odeon Entertainment unearthing treasures like this digitally, even if the absence of extras is disappointing. Keep up the good work guys and all you ‘Karloff boffins’ out there, grab yourself a mid-priced DVD that leaves a lot of contemporary independent movies all out at sea!

Review by Marc Lissenburg