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24 reviews in total

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14 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Cheap but enjoyable., 24 December 2002
Author: GroovyDoom from Haddonfield, IL

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".

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
"I had less to do with her murder than you did." Watchable mystery., 1 March 2006

Author: Paul Andrews (poolandrews@hotmail.com) from UK

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Fog Island starts on the remote, ominously named Fog Island itself where Leo Grainger (George Zucco) & his stepdaughter Gail (Sharon Douglas) live together with Allerton (George Lloyd) the butler. But they are not alone for long as Dr. Lake (Ian Keith) an old acquittance of Leo's turns up & Leo has also sent out invitations to Alec Ritchfield (Lionel Atwill), Emiline Bronson (Jacqueline de Wit), John Kavanaugh (Jerome Cowan), Sylvia Jordan (Veda Ann Borg) & a final invitation to someone who recently died so his son Jeff Kingsley (John Whitney) takes his Father's place. All of Leo's intended guests are the people he believes are responsible for him doing five years in prison for a bad business deal & more importantly Leo believes one of them murdered his wife over said dodgy deal. As Leo figured out his invitations are accepted as the prospect of finding Leo's supposed hidden fortune gets the better of the greedy bunch of thieves. The scene is set then, an isolated island, a selection of dubious character's, lies, intrigue, hidden money, revenge & ultimately murder...

Produced & directed by Terry O. Morse I thought Fog Island was a fairly enjoyable mystery/thriller, it's not really a horror but it does have horror themes & overtones. The script by Pierre Gendron is based upon a play called 'Angel Island' by Bernadine Angus which I unfortunately have not had the pleasure of watching so I obviously cannot compare the two. The film starts off pretty good with a quick set up & a lot of very forced sounding exposition out of the way in a short amount of time & all the potential victims/killers are assembled on the island they are given a mysterious clue but then it takes a step backwards & slows down & from that point onwards it felt like every other shot was of someone walking in the dark & acting suspiciously. Things pick up again for the nice twist climax which I have to say I did see coming as a scene earlier in the film gives it away but it was still a good way to round things off & left me satisfied overall. At only just past the 70 odd minute mark it's short & it doesn't outstay it's welcome although it did feel padded at times with all the walking around in the dark doing nothing in particular.

Director Morse does what he can, the island itself doesn't play that much of a part except that it makes for a nice isolated location & the title Fog Island just sounds cool, it mostly takes place in a house. The atmosphere is good in which the creaky old house itself plays a big part. Don't expect a high body count or any violence.

Technically Fog Island is fine considering it was made over sixty years ago, the black and white cinematography works in the films favour with all the pitch black corridors & corners. The acting is OK at best, rather wooden & stiff at worst.

Fog Island is a decent little thriller from the 40's that is simple but entertaining. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.

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10 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Justice is served on Fog Island., 27 June 2004

Author: Michael O'Keefe from Muskogee OK

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.

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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
When Vengeance was Complete, 16 April 2004
Author: theowinthrop from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I think this may be the only film where those eternal movie baddies, George Zucco and Lionel Atwill, were teamed as enemies. Both usually gave trouble to people you liked, like Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, even Basil Rathbone (both played Moriarty to Rathbone's Holmes in THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES - Zucco - and SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON - Atwill). Here Atwill is a man who helped frame Zucco with Jerome Cowan, Ian Keith, and two others, and Atwill also murdered Zucco's wife - for which Zucco was imprisoned. Zucco is determined to get back at all four. He does, posthumously (Atwill kills him first). I saw this film about 1968 or so. It convinced me that one can flood a room totally that was hematically sealed. I'm still not sure how it was done (some type of pump that is activated when a box is lifted from a floor - it is a really weird murder prop. The sequence of four people fighting the waters and each other in a hopeless attempt to remain afloat in a flooded room has remained with me ever since. FOG ISLAND is a terrible movie = hardly believable. But the cast is having fun, and it keeps your interest.

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12 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Entertaining 1940's mystery film., 2 December 2001

Author: Peter22060 from United States

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.

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8 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Quite Foggy, 18 December 2003

Author: Mike-764 (michaelnella@yahoo.com) from Flushing, NY

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.

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9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
A Man With A Plan, 6 June 2004

Author: sol1218 from brooklyn NY

****SPOILERS**** The only thing that seems to make any sense about the movie "Fog Island" is that the bitter and vengeful Leo Grainer, George Zucco, wanted to know for sure if any or all of the people that he invited to stay over at his home Alic Ritchfield, Lionel Atwill, Kavanaugh, Jerome Cowan, Syivla, Veda Ann Borg, and Emiline Bronson, Jaqueline Dewit, on Fog Island murdered his dear wife Karma. Finding out later in the film, at the cost of Leo's life, that Karma was murdered by his invited guests he could then die happily knowing that their greed would lead them right into the trap that he set for them.

When Leo was framed by the above mentioned individuals for embezzling his company and sent to prison they not only looted whatever was still left in the company's coffers but in their mindless greed went to Fog Island. After not finding out from Leo's wife Karma where he stashed a large portion of his liquid assets, that they felt that he hid from them, they murdered her.

His business bankrupt his wife dead and his future bleak Leo after getting out of prison had only one reason for living. That was to punish those who destroyed his life and murdered his wife Karma. At first you wondered why these people would take Leo up on his invitation to come and stay overnight at his home on the Island as guests? They knew how much Leo hated them and how unstable and crazy he was. As you watched them in the movie you soon saw just how much their greed blinded them and distorted their reason from seeing this. Leo playing on their greed made them think that he had a large amount of liquid assets hidden somewhere on Fog Island. In the end Leo's guests didn't find any assets but got far more liquids that they could have ever hoped for.

The good acting in the movie "Fog Island" by George Zucco and Lionel Atwill couldn't save the films very inane and uneven story. I could not understand why it was never really explained in the movie why Leo would hire an escaped convict Allerton, George Lloyd, to be his butler? We always see Allerton snooping around the house and looking into every nook and cranny obviously looking for the money that he thinks that Leo has hidden there.

Allerton is later confronted by Doc Lake, Ian Keith, Leo's former accountant and cell-mate. Doc gets into a fight with Allerton where he knocks him over a railing into the water and to his death. Leo who was in the background watching all of this seemed about as interested in what was happening as he would have been if he were watching the swallows flying north to Capistrano.

There was also Jeff, John Whitney, who was not on Leo's guest list but who invited himself on the Island anyway. Jeff wanted to take Leo's pretty step-daughter Gail, Sharon Douglas, off the Island and away with him. The relationship between Jeff and Gail was so contrived and phony that you couldn't believe it for a second even if you wanted to.

How did Jeff know that he and Gail would find a letter from Gail's mother, Karma, hid in a secret and hidden desk compartment insisting that she leave the Island immediately? Did Jeff have a crystal ball that enabled him to see into the future?

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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Carnage For Karma, 13 November 2005

Author: Gary170459 from Derby, UK

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.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Nice Atmospheric '40's Creeper, Terrible DVD print, 22 June 2006

Author: (w4msw-1) from Tennessee

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.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Welcome to Fog Island, 13 February 2006

Author: Chris Gaskin from Derby, England

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.

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