Spikeopath
Out of Universal Pictures, Horror Island is directed by George Waggner and stars Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo, Peggy Moran, Fuzzy Night, John Eldredge, Iris Adrian & Lewis Howard. Screenplay is written by Victor McLeod & Maurice Tombragel from an original story by Alex Gottlieb, music is by H. J. Salter and cinematography comes from Elwood Bredell.Thought to be the cheapest made of all the Universal Pictures releases in the 1940s, Horror Island is in no way a great movie. However, if viewed on its own fun comedy chiller terms it delivers for those of the Dark House mystery persuasion. Plot sees a group of dissimilar human beings gathered on the titular island of the title under the guise of searching for hidden treasure in a haunted mansion. Quelle surprise as things actually do start to go bump in the night and the group start being picked off one by one. Very much in the flavour of Ten Little Indians, but with Universal's trademark sets and atmosphere building (Bredell always impressive whatever the budget), Horror Island (ignore the foreboding sounding title) is a whole bunch of fun. Some of the plot doesn't add up, but that adds to the mystery; which why we are on the subject, the mystery reveal of the villain is a pleasant surprise. While the cast have fun and play it accordingly, particularly the delightful Adrian and Foran with his little knowing looks throughout.Full of creaky doors, moving floors and all that sort of ghost house stuff, Horror Island is hugely enjoyable horror comedy fare for the discerning old time viewer. 6.5/10
preppy-3
Con man Bill (Dick Foran) takes a bunch of people out to an island with a "haunted" castle and a supposed buried treasure. When they get there it seems there's a phantom lurking about who wants them out of the castle and isn't above murder to get rid of them.The film has great atmosphere and sets (left over from other Universal horror films) and has Peggy Moran giving a good performance--but otherwise this is WAY too quick (half the explanations at the end make little sense) and doesn't have one even remotely scary scene in it. The picture was rushed--and it shows. Characters appear and disappear at random and the script just doesn't make much sense. There are more plot holes in this than anything else. Even Dick Foran (usually a good actor) appears lifeless here. But, if you're in the mood for a very tame and mild horror film this might work. Perfect viewing for kids. I give it a 4.
dougdoepke
Fast-talking promoter takes motley group of people to haunted island in search of hidden treasure. Shot, edited, and released, all in 25 days, and frankly it shows. Must be some kind of record, even for a B-movie quickie. In my book, it's the screenplay that suffers most. Looks like they took 90 minutes of material and crammed it into 60 minutes of film. If you can make sense of the castle goings-on, there should be a place for you in the space program. Also looks like the writers took every dark-house gimmick and shoe-horned it in somewhere, anywhere. Note how many puzzles (crossbow killing of the phantom; George's killing) are given abruptly awkward and hurried explanations. Apparently, there was no time for anything else. All of which would be okay if the scary parts were really scary or the funny parts, funny. But unfortunately they're not.What the movie does have are expensive leftover sets, Woody Bredell's first-rate photography, and two really likable leads (Moran and Foran). Foran makes an engaging fast- talking promoter, while Susan Hayward look-alike Moran is both cute and lively. There were a number of these haunted mansion films during this period. My favorite is Bob Hope's Cat and Canary (1939), which really shows how the premise should be done. Too bad that Universal didn't give the production more time to develop, especially to better organize the screenplay.
Michael_Elliott
Horror Island (1941) *** (out of 4) Shockingly effective "B" thriller from Universal perfectly blends the mystery, horror and comedy genres. A con man (Dick Foran) takes a group of people to an island for a treasure hunt but soon a crazed madman starts killing them one by one. I was really shocked at how much I enjoyed this film considering how many of these types of films I've seen. The movie runs at lightening speed, which isn't the norm and all the jokes work wonderfully well. Foran makes for a good and charming leading man and the supporting cast does fine work as well. Unlike others in its genre, I didn't catch onto who the killer was either.
AD
