The island of lost souls
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The island of lost souls / the island of Dr. Moreau |
| Original title | Island of Lost Souls |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1932 |
| length | 70 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alder C. Kenton |
| script |
Philip Wylie Waldemar Young based on the novel “ The Island of Dr. Moreau ”(1896) by HG Wells |
| camera | Karl Struss |
| occupation | |
| |
The island of lost souls , also under the title The island of Dr. Moreau , is a 1932 American horror film classic. Directed by Alder C. Kenton , Charles Laughton will play as Dr. Moreau and Bela Lugosi, as leaders of the ape-men, are the two most important opponents.
action
When his ship sinks on the high seas, the passenger Edward Parker rescues himself in a lifeboat and drifts on the ocean waves for days. Fortunately, a cargo ship will soon be crossing his route and he will be caught. The goal of the extremely rough captain is a small, exotic tropical island, not shown on any nautical chart, which the captain heads for with his cargo - wild animals. Here the unscrupulous doctor Dr. Moreau type: mad scientist with the best manners - an iron regiment. His clinic is primarily used for experiments on wild animals, which he tries to genetically modify and humanize. The most important rules for the beings - half animal, half human - in the terrible realm of Dr. Moreau are: 1. Don't eat meat. 2. Don't go on all fours and 3. Don't shed blood! Anyone who does not feel is threatened with the "House of Pain", a euphemism for the torture chamber that threatens every offender.
At first, Moreau appears to Edward Parker as an exemplary gentleman and generous host, but Parker soon realizes that Moreau is unyielding in his animal experiments towards his creatures, which obey him only out of sheer fear. With a whip and threat of torture, he keeps the "ape-men", whose leader is always called "heralds of the law", small. With the simple but exotically beautiful Lota, Moreau has succeeded in his previous “masterpiece”, a so-called “panther woman”, who, in Moreau's opinion, is a perfect hybrid. She seems to feel something for Edward and falls in love with the man. This is Dr. Suits Moreau, he hopes to use these human feelings to push back the wild animal in Lota, the panther. To prevent Parker from leaving the island without his permission, Moreau has the small landing craft destroyed. The scientist can once again destroy all of Parker's fears and doubts about Moreau's activities on the island and explains to the shipwrecked guest what the use of these investigations and researches is. Parker's doubts, which he had in the face of a vivisection that was perceived as particularly brutal, have now been dispelled again temporarily. But when he realizes that the gentle, feline Lota was once a panther, Edward Parker is deeply irritated and indignant. He storms into Moreau's office, knocks him down and tells the scientist to let him go from the island immediately.
Meanwhile, Edward's fiancée, who with the help of the American consul went to find the missing Parker, landed on the island. Things soon get out of hand. In order not to let Parker and Ruth go back on board, Dr. Moreau Ouran, one of his creatures, the instruction to kill the ship's captain Donahue. This is observed by the half-savages in the jungle, and soon all hell breaks loose. Hadn't Moreau always proclaimed the law: "Do not shed blood", that is, "do not kill"? Now their lord and master himself broke the law, an occasion for the animal-people under the leadership of the herald of the law to shout uninhibitedly “No more law!”. Infinite anger breaks its path, the animal-people drag Dr. Moreau to his "House of Pain" and tortured him to death with his surgical instruments. With the help of Moreau's assistant Montgomery, Parker and his fiancée Ruth manage to leave this troubled, inhospitable island at the last minute and escape onto the ship. Lota, who also wants to save Parker, fails and dies like the murderous hybrid Ouran who is chasing her. As the ship casts off, the fire set by the savages in the complex of Moreau's clinic spreads, and soon the sea of flames covers the entire island.
Production notes
The Island of Lost Souls was filmed at the Hollywood film studio and on Santa Catalina Island . The premiere took place in December 1932. The German-language premiere was scheduled for October 1933 in Vienna. Nazi Germany did not approve the showing of this horror film, and even after 1945 the film was not shown in Germany in cinemas or on television. The film was only released on Blu-ray and DVD in this country in August 2019.
Hans Dreier designed the buildings. Gordon Jennings was responsible for the photographic special effects. The make-up artist Wally Westmore had the most extensive task in this film: the production of the numerous, extremely effective animal masks (including for Lugosi).
The film encountered major censorship problems in numerous countries, for example because of a shown vivisection and a passage from Moreau's dialogue: “Do you know what it means to feel like God?”. This sentence was perceived as blasphemous.
Reviews
Mordaunt Hall wrote in the January 13, 1933 edition of the New York Times : "Although the attempt to achieve horror is accomplished with not even a touch of subtlety, it cannot be denied that some scenes were ingeniously executed and therefore by The main effect is clearly from Mr. Laughton's cultured appearance. (…) Needless to say, there is little sympathy for this demonic scientist, but as a melodrama that one hopes will keep the blood in you You have to be grateful that the ape-men allow the best actor in this story to survive to the end. Richard Arlen plays Parker acceptably. Arthur Hohl does quite well as Moreau's agent Montgomery. Kathleen Burke with a terrible make -Up plays the part of Lota. "
Paimann's film lists summed up: "Despite the adventurous theme, the subject maintains the limits of what is just about believable, avoids banalities even in dialogue. The extremely refined direction uses a suitable presentation to underline the events, allowing them to appear in a semi-darkness conducive to the illusion of reality play. (...) At least above average, for friends of this genre even more. "
The Movie & Video Guide wrote, "Laughton does a bit of smear acting, but despite the more straightforward horror films of recent times, this film retains a terrifying aura, especially in the ghastly finale."
Halliwell's Film Guide characterized the film as follows: "Hardly scary but interesting thriller with a star performance that rolls around the eyes".
“The masks, which were very good for the time, are particularly worth mentioning. The animals mutated into humans look very "animalistic" and come into their own very well. Bela Lugosi (Dracula) can be seen among them as the herald of the law, but due to the mask can hardly be recognized. (...) However, this film has never become a classic in this country, so that it is almost unknown. "
Individual evidence
- ^ Island of Lost Souls in The New York Times
- ↑ The island of lost souls in Paimann's film lists ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 649
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 523
- ↑ The island of lost souls ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on die-besten-horrorfilme.de
Web links
- The Island of Lost Souls in the Internet Movie Database (English)