Ilha dos Horrores

Old dark house comedy thriller from Universal with a nice cast of eclectic characters. Dick Foran plays a financially-strapped boat captain who comes up with a phony treasure hunt scam. He takes a group of suckers out to Morgan's Island to hunt for Sir Henry Morgan's treasure. They stay in an old castle and that night strange things start to happen. The group finds itself menaced by a mysterious man in a cape. In addition to Foran, there's Fuzzy Knight, Leo Carrillo, John Eldredge, Hobart Cavanaugh, and other faces familiar to classic film fans. Peggy Moran reunites with her Mummy's Hand love interest, Dick Foran. It's diverting, escapist fun. Quick little B movie that is a pleasant way to pass the time.

Dick Foran plays Bill Martin, an unemployed man who lives on the waterfront who inherits an old castle on a remote island. He gets the idea of charging boat rides to the island for a ghost & treasure hunt excursion, helped by his best friend Stuff Oliver(played by Fuzzy Knight) Peggy Moran plays heiress(and love interest) Wendy Creighton who goes to the island along with several others, where they encounter a caped and mysterious figure known as "The Phantom", who has half of a pirate treasure map, while Bill's associate The Captain has the other. Who will find it first, and survive the night, since someone is also a killer? Fun movie is oddly little-known, but amusing to think how this may have influenced "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" since plot elements and characters are identical! A rushed production though, since this has a big goof: about 26 minutes in, as the group enters the library, a stage hand with portable spotlights can be clearly seen backing out of the scene!

I had first known about this through a still in the Halliwell Film Guide, though the noted late critic usually dismissed similar programmers: it turned out to be a fun horror comedy (from a story by Curt Siodmak) whose 60-minute length zips by – providing plenty of characters (even if the gangster-on-the-lam and his moll don't really work here), action, old-fashioned thrills (a caped maniac after hidden loot is loose in a remote castle), chuckles – and a surprise villain; the film is a shade overbalanced by the comedy, but the typical Universal atmosphere (and a few of its more notable sets!) are certainly present throughout. It also features a good second-tier cast: likable Dick Foran and cute Peggy Moran – re-united after the superior THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940) – are the leads and they're ably supported by the likes of Leo Carrillo, Fuzzy Knight, Hobart Cavanaugh and Walter Catlett; however, it's Lewis Howard who steals the film as Moran's chronically tired companion – even though he's absent through most of the second half!

Michael Elliott had rated this a *** and I almost did myself – but, in the long run, I don't think the film has quite the same draw as even some of the lesser titles in the Universal monster cycle; still, for an 'old dark house' type of film – of which the studio did their fair share – it's well up to par. Incidentally, I had acquired another copy of this on DVD-R last year, but the disc froze several times during playback and I had to give up after a while; I'm glad I caught up with it eventually, as the film deserves to have a legitimate DVD release along with some of the other rare/lesser-known Universal horrors, like MAN-MADE MONSTER (1941) – which I've never watched! – and NIGHT MONSTER (1942).

The film starts out a little slow but once they get to the island (about 30 minutes into the film) the movie gets good - funny. There are some suspenseful moments, a neat mystery to solve and plenty of comedy to kept it interesting.

Panama Pete (The Phantom)is played by Foy Van Dolsen but I could easily see John Carradine in this role for some reason. But The Phantom is not the only reason to watch this one - the rest of the cast/characters are likable in a neat plot - so this movie is worth watching if you like a pretty good comedy-mystery story.

I would not say this is Universal's best film of the time era but it certainly is a joyful watch.

6.5/10

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.