L'île des morts

Wonderfully atmospheric film with a unique sense of place and well-drawn characters. Karloff's performance here is excellent, yet very different from his work in other films. You may be disappointed if you go in expecting something like his horror classics for Universal. This one is suggestive rather than shocking, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the subtle horrors of Cat People, The Innocents, or even Rosemary's Baby. Because of its literate script and interesting character development, Isle of the Dead may also appeal to others who don't usually like horror.

In 1912, during the First Balkan War, the cruel, heartless and superstitious Greek General Nikolas Pherides (Boris Karloff) rows a boat to a small island with the American Boston Star journalist Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer) to visit his wife's grave. They find it destroyed and the body missing and they overhear a woman singing. Soon they learn that the archaeologist Albrecht (Jason Robards Sr.) lives in the island with his servant Madame Kyra (Helene Thimig) and is welcoming his friends St. Aubyn (Alan Napier), his wife Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn (Katherine Emery) and their servant Thea (Ellen Drew); and Andrew Robbins (Skelton Knaggs).

Albrecht invites General Pherides and Oliver to spend the night with them but during the night, Andrew dies. General Pherides summons Dr. Drossos (Ernst Dorian) that informs that Andrew died of pestilence and advises that they have to stay quarantined in the spot for the plague until the warm and dry Sirocco wind blows in the island. Otherwise it might happen an outbreak in the continent. The superstitious Kyra convinces General Pherides that Thea is the evil demon Vorvolaka and Mrs. St. Aubyn and Oliver need to protect her against the ignorance.

"Isle of the Dead" is a dramatic horror movie about superstition and death. The claustrophobic story is very well developed, with a beautiful black and white cinematography, excellent camera work and great performance of Boris Karloff and Ellen Drew. The climax with the reappearance of the deranged Mrs. St. Aubyn is creepy and ambiguous. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Ilha dos Mortos" ("The Isle of the Dead")

BORIS KARLOFF is a Greek general whose wife's body has mysteriously vanished from its tomb at the start of ISLE OF THE DEAD. He's naturally suspicious that something more evil than the plague has crept over the island he decides must be quarantined--forbidding anyone from leaving it. ELLEN DREW is a young woman he suspects may have something to do with evil spirits--or even vampirism--and MARC CRAMER is a young soldier who wants to protect her.

All the ingredients for a good chiller are here, but it's a story that gets its main strength, not from the plot, but from the sinister, shadowy B&W photography that sets up the moody atmosphere from the start, with an air of dread lingering over every scene.

Aiding considerably are strong performances from KATHERINE EMERY as a sick woman who fears being buried alive, and HELEN THIMIG as a superstitious old woman. In fact, all of the supporting players do well under Mark Robson's taut direction.

The tale itself is not one of my favorites but it's a credit to all concerned that they do a job of giving it a creepiness that should satisfy even the most jaded of Gothic horror fans.

And yet, ultimately, there's a bit of a letdown as far as the story itself is concerned. The ingredients are all there, but something vital is missing and I'm sorry to say I don't know exactly what it is.

Nevertheless, holds the interest throughout.

It is 1912 and Greece is deeply involved in the Balkan War. General Nikolas Pherides is in charge of a group of soldiers – driving them to breaking point in what some might call a cruel, twisted sense of patriotism. On a visit to the grave of his wife with visiting American Oliver Davis, Pherides finds the graves vandalised and demands answers from the local residents. He gets them but also accepts their offer of a bed for the night to save them making the long journey back to the troops. However during the night the plague is found on the small island and quarantine is declared to protect the troops. However they quickly find that the plague is not the only danger on the mysterious island.

Although the plot is unnecessarily busy considering the short running time, this is an effective enough drama although I would have liked more of the atmospheric horror to it. The plot involves the plague, suspicious characters, a driven man and possibly the undead; it builds well on the air of mystery and atmosphere although it never really gets close to some of the better Val Lewton films. Likewise the plot, although easy to follow, is not as simple and effective as it could have been and the various threads tend to slow down the film rather than compliment the atmosphere. The atmosphere is still good, although Robson has given it more of a melodramatic use of shadow at times rather than a tense use. That said, some moments are quite chilling and it'll still work on that basis.

Cramer is the main character despite the lower billing; he is a fairly standard, square jawed actor and he isn't that interesting as a result. Karloff is where the show is at and, although he is not playing a monster to the same degree as he often would, he is still very interesting and his performance is good. Support is so-so from the rest of the cast; Drew and Thimig are pretty good but Napier, Robards and Emery are not given the same chance to really shine.

Overall this is an enjoyable film but not the one to come to if you want to see the best that Lewton had to offer. The plot is more drama than atmospheric horror but it does still do this well at points. The cast are mostly good but they do tend to get in the way of Karloff, who is missed every time he goes off the screen.

Boris Karloff heads a group of internationals quarantined on a small Greek island during the Balkan War of 1912. A plague has visited the island and forces a group of unlike people to stay together in order to not spread the plague. Karloff plays a misunderstood, rather austere Greek general known for his coldness. Others on the island include Jason Robards Sr. as a man who prays to the Greek gods of old, beautiful Ellen Drew as a serving woman thought to be a "Greek vampire" by an older superstitious Greek woman, Alan Napier and Katherine Emery as an aristocratic English couple, and several others. Karloff is wonderful in a role that has nothing to do with anything he had ever or would ever play. His face is a character of its own. The rest of the cast is very good too(Robards is a bit annoying, however). Drew is lovely. The real star of the film is the atmosphere created in the film. Director Mark Robson, under the production savvy of Val Lewton, creates a film reeking with eerie settings, a feeling of isolation and all-pervading doom, and a somewhat slow-pace that ordinarily might seem sluggish but under Robson's direction adds only to the mood.