Sunday, December 8, 2013

ISLAND OF DR.MOREAU 1977 (MGM)

One of my favorite remakes.

My first job back in 1977 was a projectionist in a small theater in Gardiner, Montana and I loved every minute of it. I got to watch some truly great films many, many times and this is one of them.

Burt Lancaster stars as Dr. Moreau, a slightly mad scientist conducting bizarre experiments on animals and people on a small island somewhere..the exact location is never made clear. Michael York is Andrew Braddock, a young man shipwrecked on the island and lovely Barbara Carrera is Maria, the only female on the island and she may also be a creation of the doctor.

Nigel Davenport is Montgomery, Moreau's helper in keeping his "creations" in line. The island is also inhabited by "manimals" which are products of the mad doctors experiments and Richard Basehart is the "Sayer Of The Law" who leads these bizarre creatures.

This film follows the original which was, of course, Island Of Lost Souls pretty well, but there are a few subtle changes. For a remake this is pretty good and Lancaster does a very good job as a mad doctor. The location filming in the Virgin Islands is beautiful and so is Barbara Carrera. Her character is the most mysterious as Moreau says he found her as a child and brought her to the island with him. but if I recall right, in the book published about the time the movie came out, it was said she was a creation of the good doctor, but I could be wrong. In the original version she was.

This is a good film and I would recommend it to any horror fan.

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