Woodyanders Review of Island of the Doomed

Island of the Doomed (1967)

An uproariously campy 60's horror schlock hoot

[8/10 · 29 October 2007]

A motley assortment of tourists are vacationing on a remote island. The group runs afoul of evil botanist Baron von Meser (the ubiquitous Cameron Mitchell in top suavely sinister form) and his lethal giant vampire tree (!). Director Mel Welles (Mr. Mushnik in the original "The Little Shop of Horrors") treats the laughably ludicrous premise with total seriousness, thus resulting in a true so-schlocky-it's-downright-spectacular unintentional camp riot. The colorfully quirky stock cardboard supporting characters are especially amusing; my favorites are feisty old bat Myrtle, eccentric botanist Prof. Jules Demerest, shrewish slattern Cora, and creepy mute servant Baldi. The great animated opening credits sequence, the poor dubbing, the completely inappropriate, but still cool jazzy'n'smoky cocktail lounge score, and the incredibly wild over-the-top gruesome ending are all likewise hilarious. Only the fairly slick cinematography manages to rise above the general ineptitude of this gloriously ghastly marvel. A total howler.