Voodoo Island (1957)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

Reginald Le Borg

Writer:

Richard H. Landau (writer)

Release Date:

February 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

SEE! Men Turned Into Zombies! SEE! Woman-Eating Cobra Plants! SEE! Strange Voodoo Rituals! SEE! The Bridge Of Death!

Plot:

A wealthy industrialist hires the renowned hoax-buster Phillip Knight to prove that an island he plans to develop isn't voodoo cursed...

Plot Keywords:

Island | Voodoo | Native | Man Eating Plant | Zombie

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Phillip Knight
Beverly Tyler	...	Sarah Adams
Murvyn Vye	...	Barney Finch
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Martin Schuyler (as Elisha Cook)
Rhodes Reason	...	Matthew Gunn
Jean Engstrom	...	Claire Winter
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Native Chief (as Frederich Ledebur)
Glenn Dixon	...	Mitchell
Owen Cunningham	...	Howard Carlton
Herbert Patterson	...	Dr. Wilding
Jerry Frank	...	Vickers

Also Known As:

Silent Death (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #18395)

Filming Locations:

Kaua`i, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Aubrey Schenck Productions

Trivia:

Although set in the South Pacific, the film was actually filmed on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

Quotes:

Claire Winter: Give me a cigarette, will you, Gunn?
Matthew Gunn: Sure.
Claire Winter: Now drop dead.
Matthew Gunn: Any time you say. You make it sound exciting.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Head Case (#3.15)" (2006)

Karloff Deserved Better!

"Voodoo Island" was Boris Karloff's first American film in four years. Nearing his 70th birthday, good parts must have been hard to come by, given that the old Gothic style horror for which he became famous, was now not in vogue.

Hotel entrepreneur Howard Carlton (Owen Cunningham) is planning a new hotel/resort on a distant Pacific Island. A survey team that had been sent out earlier disappeared except for Mitchell (Glenn Dixon) who returned in a zombie like state. Carlton hires Philip Knight (Karloff) an investigative reporter to investigate the remote island where the disappearances occurred.

The expedition includes Knight, his assistant Sara Adams, Carlton's front man Barney Finch (Murvyn Vye), Claire Winter (Jean Engstrom), local resort manager Martin Schuler (Elisha Cook) and his assistant Matthew Gunn (Rhodes Reason). Knight also insists that Mitchell be brought along. Before they leave for the island, Mitchell mysteriously dies and a voodoo death warning is left.

When the expedition arrives at the "voodoo" island, strange things start to happen. First their boat breaks down and later they discover their food supply spoiled trapping them on the island all the while under the watchful eyes of mysterious natives. Then, while enjoying a swim Claire is killed by a flesh eating plant. The rest are captured by the natives. Schuler refuses to leave and later becomes a zombie as does Finch while watching two children play. Will the others escape?

Karloff is totally miscast as the fast talking "Gerardo" type investigative reporter. Although he does his best, he certainly deserved better. He would make two more films in 1958 and then disappear from the screen until 1963 when Roger Corman "rediscovered" him for "The Raven".

The cast spends most of the film trudging across the jungle island. We never see any so-called black magic and are left to wonder how the zombies are created. We do get to see some cheap looking dolls with pins in them though. This was obviously a film on a low budget. Most of it was shot outdoors and the special effects are cheaply done.

Strictly for the lower half of a double bill.