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Island of Terror (1966)
R2 - Germany - CCI - Cult Cinema International Review written by and copyright: Jari Kovalainen (1st January 2001). |
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The Film
 Horror and Sci-fi in the 1950s-1970s are genres for which the British film industry can be really proud of. “Hammer Studios” was the undisputed king during those golden years, from “The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)” to “To the Devil a Daughter (1976)”, and many of those classic films will be probably watched forever. In the heels of the success, smaller British studios were bound to follow, so “Amicus” (from “Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)” to “The Monster Club (1980)”), and “Tigon” (from “The Sorcerers (1967)” to “The Creeping Flesh (1973)”) did their best to keep up. There were also even smaller outfits in the markets, and one of them was “Planet Film Production”. One of their movies was “Island of Terror (1966)” (AKA “Night of the Silicates”), which despite its low budget involved two legendary horror figures both in front of - and behind - the camera. Director Terence Fisher had already directed “The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)”, “Dracula (1958)”, “The Mummy (1959)”, and “The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)” for “Hammer”, breathing new life to these classic monsters, and actor Peter Cushing appeared in the lead role in three of them. It was their era, which also was the finest hour of British horror. In “Island of Terror” Fisher and Cushing only succeed momentarily, but it´s still a solid and fun appetiser in the middle of the more respected films that Fisher directed for “Hammer” in that time (“Dracula: Prince of Darkness” in the same year, and “Frankenstein Created Woman” in the next). The interesting plot is set on the remote Petrie´s Island, off the east coast of Ireland. There the acclaimed scientist team is in the middle of a breakthrough in the field of cancer research. Something goes wrong in the final experiment, and, as a side effect, strange “Silicates” - crawling monsters with tentacles - are created. They´re hungry for calcium from the humans, so they´ll suck the bones from their victim´s bodies, leaving just the empty skin behind. When first death occurs and the body is found from the cave, Constable Harris (Sam Kydd) alerts Dr. Landers (Eddie Byrne), who investigates the victim - with no bones left in his body. After this strange and stunning revelation, two more doctors (no more doctors after that - I promise) are introduced; Dr. Stanley (Cushing), who - after learning about the events - takes both men to meet his old friend in the main land, Dr. West (Edward Judd), who´s in the middle of a passionate love moment with his girlfriend Toni Merrill (Carole Gray). After a brief hesitation all of them travel back to the island to get the bottom of the matter, and with the help of Merrill (she also comes along) they get the convenient helicopter ride. The bad news is that they don´t have the transportation back any time soon. The rest of the film is basically what you could´ve expected; more deaths occur within both people and animals, and through one clue at a time these three men are trying to find the answers to these bizarre incidents. Soon they´ll have to fight for their survival with nowhere to run, while learning that the thread of the Silicates could jeopardise the future of the whole planet. The clock is ticking. The main plot of the film sounds very exciting, with the scientific experiment gone bad on the remote island and blood-lusting (or should I say “calcium-lusting” at this time) monsters are on the loose as a result. At this time, the limited budget - along with some creative decisions (let the monsters be seen in broad daylight, for example) - doesn´t create enough terror for the film to be truly scary, and the slow and sometimes silly looking monsters (probably some vague resemblance to “The Day of the Triffids (1962)”) are ultimately a minor let down. Of course, fans of this genre usually have the “right attitude” for the low budget-films like this one, and all things considered the monster-effects work in several scenes quite well and aren´t the ultimate reason why this film occasionally falls more on the mediocre side. The clever editing also did manage to patch up some of the gaps when it comes to monsters. The main reason, probably, is that there simply isn´t enough flesh (no pun intended) around the story and the actors are spending a great deal of time wandering around with rather cheesy dialogue (although you will probably also find it amusing, in a good way). After the scenes where monsters appear, we usually have a typical scene where actors are quickly looking for them (since they´ve disappeared for some reason) in the nearest bushes, and then it´s back to a car and another location. There are also scenes that play too long without anything really happening, since e.g. is it actually necessary to show the whole sequence where two guys are putting their safety suits on? With these type of scenes, the tension is often lost. The film definitely delivers a few good scenes of tension and even horror (end scenes in the house for example, and in the laboratory), but often there isn´t enough excitement, which would´ve been necessary to keep the pace during the whole film. Often it´s more like “People are dead. Oh well, let´s go back to the house to think this through”. The important scene when the people on the island realise that these monsters are a bunch of tough cookies - even with weapons such as a shotgun - happens in the daylight, and quite frankly doesn´t really work that well. A gloomy, dark atmosphere would´ve been a much better choice. Criticism aside, “Island of Terror” is still a recommended film for the fans of British horror and a splendid actor like Peter Cushing, since even when it´s not at a par with, for example, the best “Hammer” films, it still offers some “old school” monster action with boneless bodies and slime, and a good isolated atmosphere which peaks in the latter part of the film. As a whole it eventually rises above the average, and some weaker aspects can be considered as a “part of the charm”. This is no Shakespeare, and fans know that. From the actors, Edward Judd is rather wooden in my book, but fortunately Peter Cushing is again natural, always breathing a certain amount of life in any character he plays - no matter what the film is. His presence is so unique, almost every time, that he usually saves at least half of the day. What is also great is that Cushing does the full starring role in the film, and not a quick cameo - as was his style many times in the later part of his career. Other actors are mostly fine also, but the female character played by Carole Gray is not very well written, and is probably in the film to bring some beauty into play. Director Fisher does what he can do with the resources and material in hand, and is probably one of the reasons why the film still keeps the audience more entertained than bored - which is always a good thing. Even he can´t fully overcome the fact that the monsters are not that scary, nor that the story is not so good as to keep the film really going for the whole time through. Visually the film is mostly a good job, but the balance with darker scenes and daylight action is not always that ideal. The nice twist at the end is worth seeing. Note, that Fisher and Cushing also teamed up again with “Planet Film Production” in “Night of the Big Heat (1967)”, and that time they bought another legend abroad; Christopher Lee.
Video
The German release includes an Anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer of the film (back cover claims 1.66:1), and many people are probably interested to hear how this compares to the earlier UK-release (by “DD Video”). The general look of this German-release is not significantly better and I actually suspect that these are taken from the same transfer (the framing is also very similar, both being 1.78:1). Like in the UK-release - which I also have - the print used here is generally somewhat faded, along with some film artifacts, dirt, and telecine wobbling. Grain is also present. It´s probably sourced from a used theatrical copy, or similar. To me it also looked like the black levels were a bit “boosted” during the transfer, at least in certain scenes, which creates the “improved look” to some people, but isn´t a very good thing in my book. Further more, skin tones looked unnatural with reddish tones in some scenes, and overly pale tones in the other, but in the end it´s hard to say what was just the result of the original style of the film, and what was a defect of the source material. It´s quite clear though, that detail level is not always what it could be (just look at the “autopsy-scene”) and the general look of the transfer is restless. The look is not that “bad”, but surely it could be better. The news that some are probably waiting for is the fact that this German release includes the uncut version (83:20 min - PAL) of the film, meaning that it includes the “hand chopping”-scene at the 66:12 minute mark (avoiding spoilers, so the person is not mentioned). This additional “gory-shot” is not included in the UK-release and apparently was cut from the UK cinema version. It´s a quick shot (approx. 1-2 seconds, with 2-3 blood spurts from the chopped hand), but makes the difference in my opinion. The shot seems to be taken from a slightly inferior source, but blends in well. I don´t want to sound too picky here, but when I also compared this additional shot to the DVD-R that I have of the older uncut VHS-version, it seems that the German-release is still missing perhaps a frame or two from the beginning of the shot. I have to stress that this is a very minor issue, and only noticeable if you watch the scene “frame-by-frame”, and shouldn´t bother even the hardcore fans. “Single layer” disc has 12 chapters, and it´s coded “R2”.
Audio
The disc includes two Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono-tracks; English and German. Some scenes in the German-track are in English and with optional German subtitles, and there are also (full) optional German subtitles included. English dialogue is relatively clear and without any major issues. Some hiss throughout and mild distortion in selected scenes can be heard, but nothing to make you overly irritated (unlike in the German track, which has some annoying “humming”). The memorable score by Malcolm Lockyer and “futuristic” sound effects involving the Silicates are presented well enough, but obviously don´t expect any miracles from this old Mono-track.
Extras
You get quite typical stuff when it comes to German-releases from the horror-genre. Original British theatrical trailer (2:47 min) is Anamorphic, and there are a series of photo galleries: - 17 German lobby cards (2:50 min). - 4 cover and artwork (0:40 min), which includes VHS-covers (always fun to have). - 10 B&W stills from the movie (1:40 min). - 6-page original press book (1:00 min).
Overall
“Island of Terror” is a flawed, but entertaining horror-film with some good - and even creepy - moments. Cushing-fans obviously can´t pass this up, since “the gentle man of horror” is along for the ride in a good spirit. I still recommend watching some of the classic ones from “Hammer” first and to get more familiar with the great legacy of the finest British horror-movies before moving to the more “low budget”-productions like this one. Like I hinted at earlier, this is more like a dessert after a good meal, and dessert alone isn´t enough to fill the stomach. This DVD is available at Sazuma.com.
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