Mystery on Monster Island (1981)
"Misterio en la isla de los monstruos" (original title)

A young European boy living in San Francisco is reluctant to marry his long-term girlfriend because he wants to travel around the world first. His wealthy uncle agrees to send him on a ... See full summary »

Director:

Juan Piquer Simón

Writers:

Ron Gantman, Joaquín Grau,

Stars:

Terence Stamp, Peter Cushing, Ian Sera

Cast

Cast overview:
Terence Stamp	...	Taskinar / Skinner
Peter Cushing	...	William T. Kolderup
Ian Sera	...	Jeff Morgan
David Hatton	...	Thomas Artelect
Gasphar Ipua	...	Carefinatu
Blanca Estrada	...	Dominique Blanchard
Ana Obregón	...	Meg Hollaney / Meg Calderón
Frank Braña	...	Birling
Paul Naschy	...	Flynt
Gérard Tichy	...	Capt. Turkott
Manuel Pereiro
Daniel Martín
Luis Barboo
Jorge Bosso	...	(as George Bosso)
Ioshio Murakami	...	The Chinaman

Storyline

A young European boy living in San Francisco is reluctant to marry his long-term girlfriend because he wants to travel around the world first. His wealthy uncle agrees to send him on a global expedition aboard his ship, but en route the boy and his travelling companion are shipwrecked on a remote island, populated by countless prehistoric creatures as well as gold-hunting bandits.

---

Plot Keywords:

island | shipwrecked | ship | creature | masked villain | 

---

Taglines:

On an island forgotten by time, perilous adventure awaits!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Horror

---

Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

Spain USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

3 April 1981 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Jules Verne's 'Mystery on Monster Island'

Filming Locations:

Canary Islands, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Almena Films, F. Ariza, Fort Films Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Stewart was originally considered for the role Peter Cushing plays in the movie.

---

Connections

Edited into Manoa, la ciudad de oro (1999)

User Reviews

The movie won't go over well with most, but it's my personal favorite.

(Note: I've also seen this title appear on the Sci-Fi channel, but they have edited some scenes out—as well as most of the credits—to make more room for advertising time. Regardless of the movie, this is not fair to the artists who worked on it, or the viewers who wish to see it. It unfortunately seems to be an increasingly common practice in the industry.)

I'm not going to try to defend this movie on objective grounds from the criticism that I'm not surprised to see it has received. It certainly has its share of corniness, clichés, questionable acting performances, and low-production values. And while I can certainly understand those who brand it as a laughably bad movie, it does have a few things going for it. The musical score, while weak in parts, actually has a few strong numbers in it; much of the natural scenery is very beautiful; and a couple of the acting performances were overall very well done. But these things aside, I would imagine that most viewers would think this movie to be a poor one.

Despite its flaws, though, this movie is without question my all-time favorite out of all of my cinematic experiences (which are both quite plentiful and quite broad). Granted, this is largely (if not wholly) due to the fact that I first saw it when I was four years old seventeen years ago, and thus carries with it both nostalgic value and perceptions that have not left me since. I watched it frequently (sometimes every day) for a number of years. In the eyes of a child—at least in my case—the corniness, low-production values, and general execution of the directing didn't matter. The movie possessed a magical sense of adventure and exploration. It was thrilling, otherworldly, and full of risks and discoveries.

In response to some of the others who've commented here: To suggest that the movie approaches any racist undertones is, I think, misunderstanding the movie and needlessly politicizing it. The character of Carefinatu and the tribesmen are indeed cliché and exaggerated. But as the true manner of the plot becomes apparent towards the end of the movie, such characterization and setting is clearly understandable. Besides, it's just part of the nature of the movie itself.

As an interesting note, I believe that the audio samples used for the 'whistling caterpillar' monsters were actually taken from recordings of a certain species of monkey.