ISLAND OF LOST SOULS

"Are we not men?"

Like millions of other "monster kids" of the '60s, I first became aware of the 1932 film ISLAND OF LOST SOULS in (where else?) the pages of FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine. Number 28 to be exact, from May 1964. That's my copy pictured above. When I first saw this issue, with it's yellow candy-stripe background, I have to admit to being a bit confused. You have to read the fine print at bottom right to know that this image is of Bela Lugosi, an actor I was only familiar with from DRACULA. Novice monster movie fan that I was at the time, I thought the image was of Lon Chaney because one of the cover blurbs trumpeted "Chaneys Phantom Face Unmasked" and since this hairy-faced horror was the only face on the cover, I naturally assumed it belonged to the Man of a Thousand Faces. But once I paged through the magazine and found the featured "filmbook'" (didn't you just love those?)  covering the classic horror film ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, it all fell into place.

Bela Lugosi, fresh off of his blockbuster success with DRACULA (1931) at Universal Studios, must have been thrilled when he was offered a part in this Paramount Pictures production. A chance to co-star with up and coming actor Charles Laughton in a project based on a classic science fiction novel by none other than H.G. Wells himself, Lugosi must have thought he'd hit the jackpot. I wonder what he thought when he found out he'd be in "beast man" make-up for the entirety of the film, his exotic Eastern European features covered in hair, with only his burning eyes recognizable. On top of that, Lugosi, as the "Sayer of the Law", was given very little dialogue, but what he does have is crucial to the film.

While Lugosi adds solid support to the narrative, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS belongs entirely to Laughton. His portrayal of mad scientist Dr. Moreau is laced with prurient, blatant sadism and only-slightly-repressed, perverted sexuality. His mannerisms, body language and delivery of lines ("They are restless tonight"), suggest an undercurrent of homosexuality, a character element found in other great villains from the Golden Age of horror films including Leslie Banks as Count Zaroff in THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932) and Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Pretorius in James Whale's masterpiece, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935).

The screenplay, adapted from the 1896 H.G. Wells novel by science fiction writer Philip Wylie, is more pulp horror than science fiction. And that's not a bad thing. While Moreau does have a laboratory equipped with Strickfaddenesque machinery, the vivisection and torture of his hapless "manimals" is horrific in the extreme. Remember, LOST SOULS is a Pre-Code horror film and it pushes the boundaries of good taste at every opportunity.

The set design is spectacular, locating Moreau's modernistic house and lab in the middle of a jungle that, like the one in KING KONG (1933), is more a landscape of the imagination than any real tropical island could possibly be. It's all wonderfully and atmospherically shot by cinematographer Karl Struss while director Erle C. Kenton keeps things moving at a brisk clip through the film's 71 minutes running-time.

The deservedly celebrated make-up effects are truly impressive, displaying a vast array of unique, man-animal hybrids including the lovely panther girl Lota (Kathleen Burke). It's Lota, a poor, pathetic almost-woman, who is the helpless pawn in Moreau's mad scheme as he thrusts her upon shipwrecked traveler Edward Parker (Richard Arlen), in a blatant attempt to get the two to mate. You have to wonder why Moreau didn't previously take Lota for himself.  Perhaps he did, but being the sadistic son-of-a-bitch that he is, Moreau gets his jollies out of watching others perform and obey his commands and dishing out punishment with a wicked bullwhip when his demands are not met.

I have a copy of the novel on my shelf but I'm sad to say, I've never read it. Maybe one of these days. The material has been filmed twice more as THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1977)  with Michael York, Burt Lancaster and Barbara Carrera and again under the same name in 1996 by John Frankenheimer. This is the notorious version starring Val Kilmer and an obese Marlon Brando as "the island". Marvel Comics produced a movie comic of the 1977 film (which I used to have), while the late British science fiction writer Brian Aldiss wrote an update of the material in his novel, AN ISLAND CALLED MOREAU (1981), which I read a few years ago and blogged about.

My buddy Kelly Greene and I watched ISLAND OF LOST SOULS the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had seen it only once before and had forgotten just how good it is. The version we watched was the Criterion Collection edition and the transfer and supplemental material are all of highest quality. ISLAND OF LOST SOULS is essential viewing for fans of Golden Age horror films.

Highly recommended.