Island of Lost Souls (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

I've always liked this story by H.G. Wells, so wanted to try out the first adaptation of the film. I was also intrigued by the reviews I heard about this being a Pre-Code movie. I know they've been getting a little more buzz lately, so I wanted to try it out. Wasn't disappointed.The story is pretty familiar regarding a shipwreck survivor who is brought onto a ship carrying a load of animals to a remote island. After getting into a fight with the captain, he's kicked off of the ship and has no choice but to go to Moreau's island. Once there, he learns that the sadistic Moreau has been experimenting with animals to force their evolution into a more human-like form. Moreau's main focus now becomes a curiosity as he wishes to see if the man can be attracted to the "panther woman" that he's made. When the man's fiancé charters a ship to come bring him back home, Moreau now wishes to see if one of his "ape-men" can have his way with the fiancé. It now becomes a matter of survival and escape for his captors as his tenuous control over his Animal people begins to deteriorate.It's well known that Wells did not like this adaptation of his story. He felt that Charles Laughton brought too much sadism to his role as Moreau. His character was very sadistic indeed, but didn't detract from the story. It's a little unsettling to watch Moreau gleefully plan encounters between his human captors and his animal-people. There is also a scene where he prods and examines one of his creatures with no empathy as the creature writhes and moans on the operating table in excruciating pain. As this film was made before the Hayes' Code went into effect, one can see how films like this really pushed the boundaries of taste for the more conservative people of the 1930's. It's very tame by today's standards, but when you think about the period in which this was made, you can see how some back then would find it a little shocking.The Criterion Collection Blu-Ray is really good. The picture isn't restored quite as well as other Blu-Rays that I have from the same period, but it's still a high-quality print. Nice special features which include discussions between John Landis, Rick Baker, and Bob Burns as well as interviews with Richard Stanley (original director of the 1996 version before Frankenheimer took over) and the founding members of the punk band Devo (who got a lot of ideas for their band and their style from this film).Highly recommended for fans of 1930's pre-code films and H.G. Wells adaptations.

Island of Lost Souls is a pre-Hays Code film so they were pretty free to imply things like rape and torture. Looking at it today it’s a very tame treatment of the story, but at the time Lota’s costume and the implications of Moreau’s desire to get somebody pregnant with a half-beast baby was pretty risqué. Laughton’s performance is great. He really underplays the “mad scientist” role. For the most part, he’s pretty soft spoken which makes him even creepier! One year later he’d win the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance of Henry VIII. He seems to have put just as much thought and care into his Moreau as he did in his much bigger performance of Henry VIII. Richard Arlen is quite good too. He was a pretty well-known leading man by this time but never went on to greater things. Though he did work steadily right up until the 1970’s, mostly in war movies and Westerns. Kathleen Burke played Lota. This was her first acting job and the way she got the gig is interesting. Paramount wanted an unknown for the role so they created a contest for the role. You just had to be 17 years to 30 years old and 5'4-5'8 tall to be considered. Burke won. Unfortunately for her, she had trouble finding work after because she was only seen as a weird beauty and quit acting not long after. Paramount also wanted Island of Lost Souls to compete for the same audience that loved the Universal monster films so they cast Dracula himself, Bela Lugosi as the Sayer of the Law, or leader of the beast-men. Leila Hyams, who had just finished working with Tod Browning on Freaks, played Parkers fiancé. Both were fairly small roles but Lugosi got second billing after Laughton. I will say that Lugosi is memorable in the role of the Sayer of the Law. His line “Are we not men?” inspired the band Devo a few decades later to write their song Jocko Homo and title their debut album “Are We Not Men?” The creature make-up ranges from meh to freakin’ amazing, especially considering it was 1932. For the most part, the creature affects hold up even today. I was impressed. Director Erle C. Kenton’s work on this film was pretty nice too. His use of light and shadow, rear screen projection in a fun way, and some of his framing of shots was really interesting. I don’t know why he didn’t go on to a more storied career. He did work steadily through the 1950’s before retiring but became best known for directing Universal monster sequels like The House of Frankenstein and The House of Dracula, along with a few Abbot and Costello movies. I always say “I’m not a big fan of horror movies”, that does not apply to the Universal monster films. I love those and that was what Paramount wanted to recreate. Luckily for Island of Lost Souls, I don’t think it did that. It’s dark and has some monstrous creatures but, at least I see it more as science fiction with elements of horror. Frankenstein too for that matter. I’m so glad that I finally bought this film, it’s so good and perhaps my favorite Charles Laughton performance. Though it’s been a while since I took a look at his Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty. It’s only 70 minutes long and well worth your time. I purchased the Criterion Collection Blu-Ray release. The print is, at times, a little rough, but I’m told it is the best version out there at this time. This is a movie in need of restoration, so here’s hoping some company can take what Criterion used and give it the facelift that it deserves. The Blu-Ray release has a few nice bonus materials—A conversation about the movie with John Landis, Rick Baker, and Bob Burns. Interviews with film historian David J. Skal and director Richard Stanley, and there is also an interview with Gerald Cosale and Mark Motherbough of the band Devo, along with a short film by Devo.

"What is the law?""Not to eat meat, that is the law. Are we not men?""Are we not men?""What is the law?""Not to go on all fours, that is the law. Are we not men?""Are we not men?""What is the law?""Not to spill blood, that is the law. Are we not men?""Are we not men?"H.G. Wells may have loathed it and the British censor banned it for nearly three decades for being "against nature," but 1932's Island of Lost Souls is still the best and most disturbing adaptation of the author's The Island of Dr Moreau. Certainly Paramount's idea of a horror film was much darker than Universal's classic monster movies of the period, and it tackles its subtext head on without appearing especially heavy-handed.Looking like a cross between British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, a chubby Adolph Hitler and Little Britain's Matt Lucas (though he claimed he based the character's look on his dentist), Charles Laughton's white-suited vivisectionist turning animals into half-men in his House of Pain on an uncharted South seas island with the aid of Arthur Hohl's disgraced doctor is at once the worst of colonialism personified and the kind of scientist the Nazis would love to have had on the payroll. Ruling over his creations with a whip and a Law based on fear, he's not that far removed from the crazed eugenics experiments that would take place a few years later or of the patronising hypocrisy that would lead to most European colonies to fall to rebellion after the war. Unlike later versions, there's no rationale behind his experiments beyond the desire to prove they can be done, and he has no scruples about trying to mate his creations with the odd human visitor or, if that fails, create a situation that might lead to a convenient bestial rape to further his scientific curiosity. When his inevitable fall at the hands of his experiments comes when they realise man is not a god but mortal like them, it's just as cruel and sadistic, the shots of real-life amputees with cloven hoofs grafted on or mental patients transformed into animals courtesy of Wally Westmore's uncredited makeup effects still shocking today.If Richard Arlen's human lead doesn't stand much of a chance of doing more than just about getting by against Laughton and Bela Lugosi's Sayer of the Law's screentime is limited to a couple of key scenes, Erle C. Kenton's direction is exceptionally good, with a real visual flair for camera movement that's as striking today as anything in James Whale's films, not least the fluid crane shots revealing the manimals' village or the commanding image of Moreau looking down on his worshipping creations like a malignant god. Hans Dreier's impressive art direction and Karl Struss' dramatic cinematography beautifully compliment what is still one of the best horror films of its kind.The much-delayed Masters of Cinema Bluray/DVD combo may use the same transfer as the Criterion release, but contains different extras. Alongside the customary booklet (which includes stills of unused manimal makeup) there's an interview with Laughton's biographer Smon Callow that draws attention to the Conradian undertones of the story and the anguished sadism of Laughton's performance, while the factual background is filled in very impressively by an excellent interview with Jonathan Rigby that's one of the best of its kind that I've seen, not just covering the expected bases like Darwin and Wells but also dealing with the 30s craze for jungle movies and physical 'degeneration.'Criterion's US Region 1 NTSC DVD offers a fine package: historical audio commentary by Gregory Monk, interviews with John Landis, Rick Baker, Bob Burns, film historian David J. Skal, musicians Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh and director of the ill-fated Marlon Brando version, Richard Stanley, two 70s short films inspired by the film, stills gallery, trailer and booklet. The picture quality on this uncut version (mastered from the same source as Eureka's upcoming PAL version) is particularly impressive considering the negative has long been lost.It's worth noting that Criterion's Blu-ray release is Region A-locked.Spanish DVD releases are pretty hit or miss - you'll either get a decent transfer (usually from the majors like Fox or Paramount) or something that looks like the worst of public domain transfers - but while the Spanish DVD of Island of Lost Souls isn't an official Universal release (it's out of copyright now), it is surprisingly good quality that's comparable to the laserdisc release though the synch gets a bit wobbly in a couple of scenes. It's English language with optional French or Spanish subtitles, with the 1933 The Vampire Bat and a booklet included as extras. Compared to the pretty lousy quality on the UK video release, it's surprisingly decent.

With the same euphoric enthusiasm as Colin Clive who shouts, "It's alive," in the 1932, "Frankenstein" we can shout, "I've GOT it, I've GOT it, I'vegotit, I'vegotitI'vegotit. Wuh huh huh huurr." After all, this has been one of the most elusive and difficult films to get hold of.I just want to add my voice to the other positive reviewers on here and praise Eureka for the wonderful job they have done transferring this movie to DVD. Apparently there is no original camera negative in existance so it just goes to show how close we came to losing this picture for good. The booklet included in this edition tells us all too briefly how this print was assembled from various 35 and 16mm elements. I must say I would liked to have seen a longer documentary on how they sourced and restored the existing prints to make this new one. Have they now managed to make a new negative from the old positives? I would have liked to have seen the condition of the reels and what they did to get this to the wonderful, pristine version that it is. I can't play the blue ray version because I don't have a player but I can certainly vouch for the DVD which is good enough as it is.Excellent work Eureka. Now, if you can just get us, "London After Midnight."

Vivisection. Always, and rightly so, a subject to inspire horror and revulsion. HG Well's novel, 'The Island Of Dr Moreau' caused an outcry upon its 1896 publication. That outrage was to be shared by Wells himself less than thirty years later with the release of Paramount's film version, 'The Island Of Lost Souls'. Wells, reportedly, hated it; and was pleased when the British censor banned the film outright from being screened in the UK for more than twenty years. Perhaps Wells had a point. The film does - as do all film versions of novels - drastically simplify his morality tale to the point of reducing it to a mere shocker. But on the plus side it does deliver its shock with elan. For a movie over seventy years old the sudden sight of a 'man' hobbling on one leg and one animalistic hoof can still turn the stomach. It certainly turned mine! As for the cast: well, of course Charles Laughton is great - was he ever not? - despite bearing absolutely no resemblance to the physical description of Moreau in Wells' novel - ironically, Burt Lancaster came the closest in that respect in the lacklustre 1977 remake, which, by the by, I wouldn't bother with. Richard Arlen - (who?) - does a passable job as the square-jawed hero, and of course there has to be a love interest - not featured by Wells - in the highly arresting shape of 'Panther Woman' Leila Hyams. It is however slightly sad to see the inset of the rot in Bela Lugosi's career as he resorts to hiding behind a face of fur and chanting Laughton's law as the Sayer of the Law. The plot, as I have said, takes the source novel and truncates and simplifies it, thereby losing a lot of the original power. But that's what Hollywood did then just as they do now. On the whole, an obviously fantastic film and one every movie-lover should own. But, having watched it, do what I did - go back to the novel, it really does help fill in the gaps.

always wanted to see this.laughton is brilliant and a total nut.surprised at the cert maybe a 12.i suppose only us old fogeys would watch and understand the under lying connotations some of which is relevent today.i don,t want to give any thing away a bit light on extras although quite a good book at about 32 pages with some interesting stills.the one thing with film it stays with you after it has finished.the ratio is 4.3 ish. the picture is as good as you are going to get with a film around eighty years old.as it has been taken from a 16mm screening print and a 35mm nitrate and a 35mm fine master .using the best of the 3 prints then remastered.the original negative no longer exists.the sound track is taken from the 16 and 35 nitrate source alas mono.i would say if you are a movie buff or a horror film nut you need to have this in your collection.

This is not a film I had seen before this excellent release from Masters of Cinema/Eureka, so like a lot of my MoC purchases it was bought 'blind'.A great film version of The Island of Dr Moreau (the best!) made before the Hays Code and banned in Britain for 'being against nature' is presented in as a good a version as you could wish for for a film of this vintage. It comes with an informative booklet (as do all MoC releases) and the blu-ray is also available in a brilliant tin book (I'm a sucker for this type of release!), which also has a DVD version for those of you not yet upgraded to high def. There are some nice extras the best being a piece by Simon Callow, biographer of star Charles Laughton.If you like any of the films from the Golden Age of horror then this is a must. A very highly recommended release.