User reviews

Leo Granger, falsely framed for embezzlement and living on Fog Island with his stepdaughter, invites the 4 persons who framed him and one of which is responsible for the murder of Granger's wife. The only reason for the 4 to go to the former pirate hideaway, is that they, along w/ Granger's former cellmate, believe that somewhere in the house is a stash of money, Granger accumulated. One of the four, Kingsley, is the son of the recently deceased person who framed Granger, and is only there for Gail, the step-daughter. At the island, Granger gives each a clue to ultimately get "what's coming to them", and he waits to see how the group's greed will get the best of them. The film has the right atmosphere and a good cast, but that's all to recommend it. Obviously with a PRC budget, you might have had a style similar to Clair's And Then There Were None. Morse's direction is uneven, very often breaking the tension. Still a good production from the studio. Rating, 5.

A pen for Emiline Bronson.

A small book of multiplication tables for John Kavanaugh.

A toy skull for Sylvia Jordan.

A chisel for Alec Richfield.

A knife for Jeff Kingsley.

And a key for Gail, whose last name we never learn.

These are party favors from Leo Grainger, a failed financier whose associates framed him with a fraud rap. He was sent to jail for five years. And someone murdered his rich wife. This night they are all gathered on Fog Island in Grainger's hulking mansion, amidst fog so thick you can lean against it. Grainger invited them with hints that from the money he was convicted of stealing, a fortune still remains buried somewhere in the mansion. However, Jeff Kingsley turns out to be the innocent son of one of the conspirators, a man who has died recently. And Gail is Leo Grainger's stepdaughter, a young woman who seems pouty and resentful, yet who appears to have respect for her stepfather. During this long night, Leo Grainger's party favors will lead to retribution and horrible death.

For fans of low-budget Forties' movies, especially those which feature mystery, death and strange animals, human and otherwise, roaming the moors, two names stand high in the pantheon of actors who deliver the goods: George Zucco and Lionel Atwill. They were born within a year of each other in England, Zucco in 1886 and Atwill in 1885. Both had distinguished stage careers. Zucco left Britain for Hollywood in 1935. Atwill arrived in America in 1915. Atwill was so confident and assured as an actor that it was easy to overlook how hammy he could be. Zucco's mad glare made it easy to overlook how good an actor he was, and how avuncular and reassuring he could be as a good guy. Both settled into strong character parts in the Thirties, often in A-level movies, and both, for different reasons, ended up in more and more low-budget mystery and horror programmers in the Forties...Zucco because as he got older he began to accept any roles offered to him; Atwill because he was involved in a scandal and could only find work in low-budget cheapies.

Fog Island is fun because it is one of the few films the two actors appear in together. Zucco is Leo Grainger, a man who will have his retribution. Atwill is Alec Richfield, one of the instigators of Leo's downfall and a prime suspect in the death of Leo's wife. The third major player, of course, is the glowering mansion set on this isolated island. We quickly learn, as Leo goes about setting his traps, that some of his guests are going to encounter the dank lower chambers carved in the living rock, rooms with hidden doors, pits covered with disguised lids and one water-tight room, deep in the bowels of the island, where horri...well, you need to see the movie.

The film features some barely adequate acting, gloomy and surprisingly rich-looking interiors, a lot of obviously one-take scenes, as well as a suspicious looking butler. And among the cast is that tall, blond specialist in dames you shouldn't trust, Veda Ann Borg. Those fans of low-budget programmers like me miss her.

Although "Fog Island" is very stagy (which is understandable, seeing as it was adapted from a play), and the acting is often atrocious, it's very enjoyable for its black and white mystery atmosphere. It reminded me of the kind of drama that used to be produced for the radio on shows like "Inner Sanctum." The admittedly contrived story takes place predominantly in an old dark mansion which is, we are told, located on an island where the fog is constant and overpowering. Lionel Atwill, who was framed and sent up the river by some shifty associates in his business, devises a scheme to lure the conspirators to his remote home and have them kill each other for the fortune they think is hidden there.

The creaky story relies on all of the characters being murderously greedy, and this is the kind of movie where booby traps exist alongside secret passages and hidden compartments. Did houses like this really exist anywhere other than the movies?

Interestingly, although the plot comes off as contrived, it's not entirely predictable, either. It also benefits from not being overly long, clocking in at just about an hour. The presence of Lionel Atwill helps immensely. Would be great on a double bill with "Secret of the Blue Room".

Nothing like an old, low-budget mystery. Leo Granger(George Zucco)has been released from prison after being framed for embezzlement by his once trusted associates. He decides to invite them to his hideaway haven on Fog Island intimating it is a chance to even the score for his stay in prison as well as the murder of his wife. In the name of justice due, he hopes his guests will accept the invitation in hopes of sharing in the embezzled funds. But instead he has devised a death-trap for those that ill advised and urged some of his past bad behavior.

The fog lends to an atmosphere of mystery. Plus the fact that the guests don't exactly trust each other let alone their host causes a degree of suspense. The abrupt climax serves justice. Veteran villain Lionel Atwill leads the supporting cast of Jerome Cowan, Sharon Douglas, Veda Ann Borg and John Whitney.

I would have voted 6, but had to subtract one for the grizzly, bouncy print, even the DVD print purchased from DeepdiscountDVD was wretched (not their fault.) But, the price was right, under $5.00 on sale. The actors were wonderful in their scenery chewing portrayals of the various greedy characters. Many of them were quite well known actors in the 40s. The only truly bad acting was by the two actors portraying the young lovers, whose characters added no value to the story anyway. The other reviews pretty well cover the story and need not be repeated here. The story was adapted from the play "Angel Island". What was fun about the movie presentation is that it doesn't stray far from the stage play form. The scenes don't change often and the action is concentrated in one spot. This helps maintain the continuity of the story, which in low budget presentations can quite often get lost. If you like stories like "Ten Little Indians", you'll like this.

Fog Island is a rather creepy little chiller from B-movie specialists PRC.

A man who lives in a creepy mansion with his step-daughter on a small island shrouded in fog invites some of his friends to stay. This mansion has hidden extras including secret passages and hidden doorways. The man also gives each of his "friends" strange little gifts including a skull, a key and a times table book. This man has a reason for all this though and strange things start happening...

This movie is quite creepy and atmospheric even though a little slow moving at times.

The cast includes horror B-movie regulars George Zucco (The Flying Serpent, Scared To Death) and Lionel Atwill (The Vampire Bat, House of Dracula).

Fog Island is worth a look at. Not too bad.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

This does not have much of a reputation, despite a number of interesting/reliable presences – George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, Ian Keith and Jerome Cowan – and, having watched it now, I can see why! Of the quartet, Zucco (the nominal protagonist, despite expiring well before the end!) and Keith (who, at one point, engages in a vigorous and amusingly speeded-up scuffle with the hero) come off best: on the other hand, Atwill is wasted in one of his last roles, whereas Cowan barely even registers!

Anyway, the film is not really horror, more a thriller on the lines of Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WERE NONE – whose best screen rendition actually came out the same year as this! The narrative, in fact, deals with framed ex-con Zucco inviting those responsible for his going 'up the river' to the titular abode in order to exact revenge: as bait, he uses the fact that the island is supposed to hide a fortune, while another motive has to do with his beloved wife (called Karma!)'s death. However, the plot details are so sketchy (the muffled audio and occasional splices do not help in this regard) as to make for a thoroughly dreary ride...especially in view of the fact that Zucco has arranged things so that the majority of the characters are eliminated en masse (by way of that standard device, the water-logged room) when, in this type of fare, one looks forward to as many ingenious murder methods as possible!

There is also the inevitable romance (which runs hot and cold this time around) between the young folk: one is Zucco's stepdaughter, naturally, and the other the likewise innocent son of a deceased guest (it comes as no surprise at all, then, that they emerge the sole survivors). For the rest, we get such clichéd 'old dark house' trappings as a secret passage (activated by a button on the no-less-obligatory pipe-organ and which virtually the entire cast contrives to try out – again, a distinct sign of laziness!) and a seance (held at Atwill's behest but which he then fails to attend!). Though not particularly remarkable, atmosphere is serviceably rendered throughout yet, all things considered, the film is certainly no great shakes.

First time of watching: entertaining low budget spooky house mystery with Zucco and Atwill at their eye-popping peaks. Terrible print - the negative must look transparent, so I would definitely recommend switching the lights off (or a cinema) for optimum viewing.

It's a PRC stagey mix of And Then There Were None (in this case, Two) and The Cat And The Canary, with a few extra twists, but with only nine characters. The butler was a short-lived oddball however, quickly dispatched with gusto from the plot to the cynical amusement of Zucco. To my cynical amusement it's at that moment that Zucco is reminded that he "blew his top" when he was in prison - not hard to imagine!

The male romantic lead was even more wooden, impetuous and prescient than the rest of the cast (Jerome Cowan was wasted yet again), but overall I enjoyed the film, nice atmosphere when the print allowed and an almost believable nasty-revenge storyline.

A man (Zucco) invites the people who framed him into a prison sentence to his island, where he has an ingenious plan for their demise.

It's very interesting to watch the inter-play between the "guests", and the strange "clues" to a supposed "hidden treasure" that are given them by the host. Most interesting are the scenes between Zucco & Atwill.

The only bad part is the acting of the two young lovers; it's VERY "wooden". But, despite this, it's a must-see film!

Watching this reminded me of staying up late at night in the early 50s after mom and dad went to bed. Cheaply made, mediocre acting, and a spooky soundtrack.

It was interesting to hear the Theme from "The Whistler" radio show in the first few moments after the opening credits. But there is no other mention of a conn3ction to the radio show in the film.

Another trip to poverty row with George Zucco. This time Zucco plays an ex-con hellbent on revenge against those who framed him. So he invites them all into coming to his house on a secluded fog-covered island. This is Zucco's show the whole way. He brings a touch of class to everything while also being menacing. He always elevated the films he was in, even when they were made by crummy studios. Lionel Atwill, Jerome Cowan, and Veda Ann Borg are all good. John Whitney and Sharon Douglas are the obligatory 'young romance' subplot. Whitney couldn't be more bland if he tried. Unfortunately the frequent cuts away from the main story to focus the boring romance hurt any chance of building suspense. It's a passable old dark house movie with a nice cast, some decent atmosphere, and the usual creaks & groans one expects from movies that have lapsed into public domain, particularly those of the poverty row studios.

The setting is a creepy mansion on a perpetually foggy island...we have two quasi- horror icons- George Zucco who seeks revenge against business associates who framed him, the other one being Lionel Atwill. This is might be the only movie where these two sub-great actors faced off- the main reason why you should watch this film. Both are very good in this one... Very atmospheric, at one point somewhat convoluted, watching the invited guests clash was interesting but the print ! My God, the print of this film is quite bad and is screaming out for a restoration. The ending did surprise me, very unusual for Hollywood back then. The romantic subplot some say is "wooden" but I feel considering the rest of the film this youthful romance was necessary. At 1 hour 8 minutes long, this is the right length for a B- flick. 5.5 stars.

All in all, this is a bit of fun to watch. The thrills are not too chilling, but the ending is satisfying. My single complaint is that so many of the indoor scenes are as dark and foggy as the outdoor scenes, which made it a bit difficult to really see what was going on, but that is probably due more to the low budget than atmospheric intentions. The acting is only fair, but adequate enough. A good Saturday afternoon viewing for this one.

Ex-convict Leo Grainer lives on Fog Island with the daughter of his murdered wife. Looking to take revenge on those who framed him, he invites his former associates to his island mansion in the belief that he may share a fortune with them.

B horror movie regulars George Zucco and Lionel Atwill take the lead roles in this familiar storyline, which has been the basis for many films, often much better than this. Having said that it's more bearable than some and will pass an hour.

This genre of mystery film began in the twenties and ended in the early 1940's. It is a good late night movie to be seen before bedtime. It has none of the overkill of the movies of the 1990's.

This is supposed to be an atmospheric creepy house, murder mystery.

It begins as such with the usual group of unsavory suspects, and a hero and heroine.

It just completely deteriorates from there.

The clichés are worse than tired. They are absolutely dull. Instead of giving us mystery, the constant shifts and creeps in the shadows just give you a headache.

It's hard to care about anything here. The hero and heroine are okay. The others aren't motivated in the least. They just bore us. They sound like they had to write the lines as they went along, and didn't care what they wrote.

It's the dullness that drags this down. The atmosphere should have been there, but it isn't. It is horribly written and directed, and this from someone who likes old atmospheric movies. This is an ordeal, and not to be seen without aspirin.

May cure your Insomnia, but that's it.

I started following the films of lesser-known horror star George Zucco, a British actor who tended to play incredibly calm villains. Fog Island (1945) is a revenge thriller, where he invites his former business associates (those who betrayed him) to his isolated home on a foggy island. It's definitely a low budget film, but somehow that works in its favour. There's a few great scenes amidst the fogginess (e.g. scenes in a specially-designed "death room"). George Zucco was actually a good actor - here playing a buttoned-down Englishman whose demeanour is ready to crack at any moment due to barely-concealed rage.

George Zucco and Lionel Atwell in a thriller - how can you go wrong? This highly atmospheric and dark drama features a good cast but a weak script and uneven direction drag it down. The plot is solid and complex: Zucco is freshly out of prison, wrongly serving time for embezzlement, and invites his accusers supposedly for a dinner of reconciliation at his island home. Additionally, he suspects one of the invitees of having murdered his wife. Unfortunately, any time that some tension starts to build, director Morse seemed driven to relieve it with the ill-timed interjection of the love interest between Zucco's step daughter, shapely Sharon Douglas, and the son of one of the deceased invitees. At just a little over 68 minutes long there isn't much time for character development or allowing some of the eerier aspects of the film to play out like the séance or exploration of the secret passages. Still it's watchable but could have been much better with a little more budget and better direction.

Released from prison after serving five years for ruining a company, George Zucco invites five people to come visit him on his private island, where he may entertain them, but will have his revenge!

With a cast that also includes Lionel Atwill, you can expect some fireworks, but there is surprisingly little of that until a rather gruesome ending -- implied by the reaction of one of the young lovers, rather than shown. This is a PRC movie, after all, and gruesome ending cost money. It was reported that the company paid $30,000 for filming rights to Bernadine Angus' play "Angel Island" although that seems unlikely for a company that once proposed to pay John Garfield with half the company's stock for a role. At least that's what they told the reporters.

Although the guys put some zest into their roles, the other players, including Jerome Cowan, Sharon Douglas, Veda Ann Borg, and Ian Keith seem to project distasteful moods, as if they have reconsidered being in this movie, but can't figure out how to get out of it. The script seems to hint at the sort of thing that might play better as grand guignol.