O Mistério da Ilha dos Monstros

Yet another fascinating motion picture extravaganza from prolific Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon. In this one, Mr. Simon actually got some name actors to appear, namely Peter Cushing and Terrance Stamp, who most will remember as old guys in various Star Wars movies. Luckily, they only appear in a couple of scenes, leaving the leading man duties to Ian Sera, who was memorable as the "It Stinks!" guy in "Pod People" and the guy who gets his crotch crushed in "Pieces". Frank Brana, another venerable Simon regular, has a brief appearance as well (too brief- he doesn't get any ridiculous dialog like he did in "Slugs").

Anyway, Sera has been stranded on a deserted island with a really annoying sidekick who constantly screams and falls over and wets himself in the most disgraceful performance since Jerry Lewis repelled movie goers in the sixties. Sera and his grating companion face every deserted island cliché ever as they build a fort, forage for supplies, befriend a precocious chimp, and team up with an offensive black native stereotype who has to constantly save our "heroes" from their own stupidity. We get to see them in seemingly endless musical montages which are mostly taken up by the constant mugging of the painfully unfunny sidekick, as he manages to drop every possible object on the island on his toe.

But remember, they were unfortunate enough to land on Monster Island, and this flick certainly doesn't skimp on said monsters. First their boat is attacked by green fish monsters whose eyes seem to be painted on. Then it's a giant dinosaur who can't close his mouth, some lumbering seaweed men with no discernable powers to attack with, and some cute, steam blowing caterpillars. It should be noted that our hero repeatedly discovers that bullets can't stop the monsters, but doesn't stop unloading clip after clip at them, wasting his limited ammunition supply.

Despite the aggravating comic relief guy and a couple of racist caricatures, this would be a pretty good movie for kids- the monkey is great, and the effects are competent enough, and things move along fast enough to hold a youngster's interest. Unfortunately, there is a completely ridiculous plot twist towards the end that sends this flick into the simply idiotic file. I won't spoil it here, but needless to say, "The Game" this ain't.

Mr Kolderup (Peter Cushing) buys a tropical island for five million dollars. His rival Taskinar (Terence Stamp) also wanted the island - because he knows a gold treasure is hidden there. Still he couldn't make a higher bid than Kolderup. When Kolderup sends young Jeff (Ian Sera) to the island along with his teacher (David Hatton), because the lad looks for adventure, wants to become a man et cetera, Taskinar plans to make that adventure much more dangerous than intended...

Well, it's innocent fun with the typical ingredients: shipwrecked on a mysterious island, the heroes meet monsters and unknown enemies, a beautiful lady in distress, and last not least a monkey for comic relief. "Mystery On Monster Island" is not among the classics of the genre, but definitely less boring than most stuff they show on TV in the afternoon.

I might have been better off watching Godzilla on Monster Island, but Paul Naschy wasn't in that one, and I'm a Naschy completest. So, let's be honest upfront; I am only here for the Naschy! Starring Peter Cushing as the uncle of adventurer Jeff (Ian Sera), who is off to make his way in the world accompanied by the hilarious David Hatton.

It's a silly Jules Verne adventure with lots of animal laughs and pratfalls.

The silly looking monsters, the guns that never seem to do any damage or run out of bullets, stupid homemade weapons, bombs that don't kill anyone, and the incessant whining of the professor (Hatton) begins to wear you down to the point that only a five-year-old would appreciate this film. The turkey bit was the last straw!

As for Naschy, I never saw him except for a brief time in the beginning.

Adventure tale full of colorful scenarios , thrills , humor and pretty fierce monsters . Amusing , lighthearted romp though average , only for kids and teenagers , based upon the Jules Verne novel . It's a mediocre fun with naive special effects , passable set decoration and functional art direction without use of computer generator . It deals with a young European (Ian Sera) residing in San Francisco is reluctant to marry his long-term bride (Ana Obregon) because he wishes to travel around the world first . His wealthy uncle (Peter Cushing) agrees to send him on a global expedition aboard his vessel . He along with a professor (David Hatton) undergo a hazardous voyage but en route the young man and his traveling companion are shipwrecked on a far island loaded with rare creatures and gold . Along the way they face numerous dangers , risks as the duo descend into deep caverns and discover a tunnel system populated by countless prehistoric creatures as well as gold-hunting natives , torrential floods , volcanic eruptions and many other things . It results to be a silly but likable Spanish adaptation based on Jules Verne classic novel .

This below average humdrum adaptation is a special version of the Jules Verne adventure yarn titled ¨L'Ile Mysterieuse" or "The Mysterious Island" it was written in 1874, though the source of this picture is actually "L'École des Robinsons" or "The Robinson School" published in 1882 . There're rip-roaring action , spirit of adventure , derring-do , humor , thrills and results to be briefly entertaining . Two greatest stars of this production , Peter Cushing and Terence Stamp , are really wasted . There appears usual secondary actors seen in co-productions of the 60s and 70s , Spaghetti and Terror genre , as Frank Braña , Luis Barboo , Gerard Tichy and the horror idol , the great Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina . It's a slight fun with average special effects by Emilio Ruiz Del Rio , passable set decoration , functional art direction and none use of computer generator . The rubber monsters are the real stars of this production , however being middling made , it has numerous "older technique" special effects such as matte paintings, rubber-suited monsters, uses the standard film technique of reverse-footage to create certain effects . The fable is silly and laughable , and the effects and action are regularly made . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are some deeply shrouded caverns , several monsters roaring menacingly towards the camera and the colorful backgrounds of the lost island . Some monsters are clumsily but the movie has some good moments here and there . Some illogical parts in the argument are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the monsters, though sometimes are a little bit cheesy . Highlights of the voyage includes a roller-coaster trip , a terrifying odyssey in sailing , prehistoric beasts and many others. The motion picture is middling realized by Juan Piquer Simon . Piquer who recently passed away was a good craftsman , he owns his own studio and created and/or designed many of the simple special effects sequences you see in any of his many imaginative undertakings . Juan was expert on all kind of genres as Terror ( Slugs, Piezes , Cthulhu ) and Sci-fi (The rift , The new Extraterrestres, Supersonic man) . While his films have been universally panned by the prestigious reviewers, they have a kind of quality that must be endured to be fully appreciated .

This wasn't smart enough to be considered campy or tongue-in-cheek. Although, come to think of it, it did have every cliche of bad monster/castaway/uncharted island movies. I suppose that's an accomplishment.