Island of Terror

‘They lived by eating human bones… and threatened to consume the world!

Island of Terror is a 1966 British science fiction horror film produced by Planet Film. It was directed by Terence Fisher – he also helmed The Earth Dies Screaming and Night of the Big Heat for Planet – from a screenplay by Edward Mann and Al Ramsen. It stars Peter Cushing, Edward Judd, Carole Gray, Eddie Byrne, Niall MacGinnis and Sam Kydd.

The idea for the film came when Richard Gordon read the Gerry Fernback screenplay The Night the Silicates Came.

The film was released in the US by Universal Studios on a double-bill with The Projected Man.

Plot teaser:

On the remote Petrie’s Island, farmer Ian Bellows goes missing and his wife contacts the police. Constable John Harris goes looking for him and finds him dead in a cave without a single bone in his body. Horrified, Harris swiftly fetches the town physician Dr. Reginald Landers, but Dr. Landers is unable to determine what happened to the dead man’s skeleton. Landers journeys to the mainland to seek the help of a noted London pathologist, Dr. Brian Stanley.

Like Landers, Stanley is unable to even hypothesize what could have happened to Ian Bellows, so both men seek out Dr. David West, an expert on bones and bone diseases. Although Stanley and Landers interrupt West’s dinner date with the wealthy jetsetter Toni Merrill, West is intrigued by the problem and so agrees to accompany the two doctors back to Petrie’s Island to examine the corpse.

In order for them to reach the island that much faster, Merrill offers the use of her father’s private helicopter in exchange for the three men allowing her to come along on the adventure…

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Reviews:

” …one of the very best monster movies to come out of Great Britain in the 1960’s. Not only do its script and direction give the audience credit for a great deal of B-movie erudition, it isn’t overly protective of its main characters (some surprisingly nasty things happen to some surprisingly important people in this movie), and its monsters, though none too convincingly realized, are an extremely imaginative departure from the mutant lizards and gigantic bugs we’re accustomed to in the genre.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“Island of Terror also lacks a great deal of conviction. The scene where Edward Judd is forced to cut off Peter Cushing’s arm to save his life would have had some brutal effect were it not undermined by the sight of Cushing cheerfully sitting up being bandaged in the following scene. The film taps into the peculiar isolationist mentality of 1960s Britain. Unfortunately the menace is too dull to be effective – and Terence Fisher fails to tap into any of the swimming subtexts that manage to make all good science-fiction monsters more than they are.” Moria

hand chopping gore moment in Island of Terror

Gory hand-chopping moment

“It’s a strangely sedate movie, given its outré subject matter and lurid title, which is probably both a strength and a weakness. Fisher shoots it in naturalistic tones and the actors mostly give restrained performances. Cushing is excellent, as always, though his character often takes a backseat to Edward Judd’s more charismatic scientist character. He does get to lose a hand, though, in probably the film’s tensest moment. And Carole Gray turns in a very likeable performance, even if her character doesn’t get much to do besides scream and be told to wait in the car. Innsmouth Free Press

“Minor genre entry which makes the most of its low budget thanks to first rate direction by Terence Fisher, adequate special effects and attractive cinematography.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Handbook

“Exteriors are interesting when we see the overcast skies, the foggy woods, the actors breathing in the midst. Action comes very often compared with other sci-fi horror films of the era. Weird blob sound effects might be overdone, and the coda is too campy, but these are minor flaws.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers