The Blu Ray review. . .
Thanks to my job I was able to get an early copy of the Criterion Blu Ray for Island of Lost Souls. There's not much to be said about the film that hasn't already been said. This adaptation of Wells "Island of Dr. Moreau" is one of the absolute pinnacles in the classic horror genre. One of the most notable things about this film is how much its tone contrasts with that of the Universal horror movies of the same era. This film is far darker in its subject matter (vivisection, rape, bestiality) and has an overt air of sexuality that Universal films tended to stay away from. But enough about that, on to the disc itself.
The transfer itself really does stand with the best that Criterion has done. Anyone expecting a transfer clean of all dirt and scratches is setting themselves up for disappointment (and I can't imagine why anyone would want this film in that "clean" of a version, regardless). But this is the most pristine I've ever seen. It is superior to every other home video...
At last! . . .
I've been anticipating this release for years, so I'm glad to see it finally appear. The Paramount VHS version looked pretty darned good (for tape), so I have high hopes that the Criterion DVD has a top-quality source and will do this masterpiece justice. Definitely get the Blu-Ray version.
As for the movie itself, Laughton couldn't be better. He owns Dr. Moreau the way Sean Connery owns James Bond. No one could do effete aristocratic evil better than he.
Yes, the panther woman is made up to look a little nightclubby, and Stanley Fields (the drunken captain of the ship) and Paul Hurst (the garrulous captain of the rescue ship) ham it up a bit in their character parts, but was there ever a more terrifying scene than the one in which Richard Arlen first lays eyes on the animal-men?
I haven't seen every remake of this story, but the Burt Lancaster (1977) and Marlon Brando (1996) versions aren't in the same league. In fact, even without comparison to the...
Outstanding Horror Classic - Thank You, Criterion!
Several years ago, when I started to purchase DVD's, I decided that my VHS collection of 700 or so titles did not need to be replaced, and I would only buy DVD editions of films that I hadn't yet acquired. Right. A dozen years later, I have since replaced every VHS tape I had, with the exception of 40 or so films that have not yet made their way on to DVD. Of all the films I have left in my VHS collection, I have wished for the DVD release of none more than Island of Lost Souls. That this classic is finally being released by Criterion in a deluxe edition just makes my mouth water more in anticipation.
In 1932, Paramount Pictures made one of their few horror titles, Island of Lost Souls, based on the H. G. Wells classic, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Even today, the film emerges as an intelligent and extremely creepy exercise in unspeakable horror. One of Hollywood's sadly forgotten leading men, Richard Arlen, plays Edward Parker, a hapless traveler set adrift, who is...
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