Island Of Lost Souls (1932) :
Brief Review -
A notable work of pre-code sci-fi human-horror by Hollywood in the same year when they got their Best Human-Horror Classic 'Freaks'. Tod Browning's 'Freaks (1932) is one of my favorite human-horror flick from Hollywood because it convinces those emotions by hitting the right chords. It wasn't about scary horror episode like 'Nosferatu', 'Frankenstein', 'Dracula' or 'The Mummy' which were made before it and all were Classics but it was about sentiments and human nature. Island Of Lost Souls is a worthy and notable attempt in extending the limits of this Human-Horror genre where there is no ghost or evil but scientifically disabled and ugly faces covering the part of horrifying creatures. Erle C. Kenton's film has an interesting storyline which mixes up humans and animals with medical experiments and it also blends those mainstream emotions and human feelings with it perfectly. The plot centers on a remote South Pacific island where mad scientist, Dr. Moreau, secretly conducts experiments to accelerate evolution in plants and animals, with horrific consequences. Charles Laughton as Dr. Moreau is just fantastic. At some occasions he as a human scientist feels more frightening than those horrible creatures. His attitude and course of throwing his dialogues passionately is simply amazing. Supporting him, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi and Kathleen Burke have done whatever their parts needed and very much convincingly. The film is short, its about 70 minutes only and so the pace never gets slow. Once you hop on it, you never realise when an hour or so is passed and The End has appeared. Kenton's experimental sci-fi horror drama is not a Classic (at least for me), but if there is anything best after Browning's 'Freaks' in that time belonging to this specific theme, then Island Of Lost Souls has no competition at all. Overall, a great attempt and worthy invention in drawing new proportions of Horror Genre.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
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