Island of Terror (1966)

An isolated remote island community is threatened by an attack by tentacled silicates which liquefy and digest bone and tissue.

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Edward Mann (original story) (as Edward Andrew Mann), Al Ramsen (original story) (as Allan Ramsen)

Stars:

Peter Cushing, Edward Judd, Carole Gray

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Brian Stanley
Edward Judd	...	Dr. David West
Carole Gray	...	Toni Merrill
Eddie Byrne	...	Dr. Reginald Landers
Sam Kydd	...	Constable John Harris
Niall MacGinnis	...	Mr. Roger Campbell
James Caffrey	...	Peter Argyle
Liam Gaffney	...	Ian Bellows
Roger Heathcott	...	Dunley
Keith Bell	...	Halsey
Margaret Lacey	...	Old Woman (as Margaret Lacy)
Shay Gorman	...	Morton
Peter Forbes-Robertson	...	Dr. Lawrence Phillips (as Peter Forbes Robertson)
Richard Bidlake	...	Carson
Joyce Hemson	...	Mrs. Bellows

Storyline

A small island community is overrun with creeping, blobbish, tentacled monsters which liquefy and digest the bones from living creatures. The community struggles to fight back.

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Plot Keywords:

chopping off a hand | hysterical female | silicon based life | medical ethics | pathologist | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night of the Silicates

Filming Locations:

Black Park Country Park, Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Planet Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the French version (post-synchronized) Edward Judd is dubbed by Jean-Claude Michel / Visa d'exploitation en France : #38125

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Goofs

When Dr.s Stanley, West and Landers initially come to Dr. Phillips' mansion, no one comes to the locked front door when they ring, forcing Dr. Stanley to pry his way inside through an unlocked side window. Entering the library through a closed door, he finds a human corpse, stepping past it to let the others in. Since the tortoise-like creatures are later seen to glide slowly over the ground with manifest strength to break glass and punch through wood with only one tentacle to aid them, it's unexplained how they got out of the lab (or the library) leaving no door, window or wall broken. There is also nothing to suggest -- being eating machines with a single-cell disposition -- that they'd be either cleaver, considerate or facile enough to close doors behind them when finished eating. How they escaped the mansion to roam the island remains inexplicable.

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Quotes

Morton: John.
Constable John Harris: Aye.
Morton: I just found one of my horses dead. At least, I think it's one of my horses. It's all soft and flabby.

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Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was cut by a few seconds by the BBFC to remove a brief shot of blood-spurts after a hand is chopped off with an axe. The early UK and French DVDs retain this version though the German CCI DVD issue has the scene intact. The 2014 UK Odeon DVD release is fully uncut.

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Connections

Featured in Svengoolie: Island of Terror (2014)

User Reviews

Silly and Funny Sci-Fi /Horror Movie of the Sixties

In the Pitkeys Island, located northeast of England close to Ireland, while Dr. Lawrence Phillips (Peter Forbes-Robertson) is researching a cure for the cancer in his laboratory, he accidentally creates a "silicate" creature that sucks human and animal bones. The local police officer finds the "boneless" body of a local and Dr. Reginald Landers (Eddie Byrne) calls Dr. Brian Stanley (Peter Cushing), a specialist in bones, who also invites Dr. David West (Edward Judd) to travel to the island to investigate the event. The girlfriend of Dr. West, Toni Merrill (Carole Gray), borrows his father's helicopter to bring the team to the island, and imposes the condition of staying with them. Together, they try to find a way of destroying the weird monsters with the support of the locals. "Island of Terror" is a silly and funny sci-fi / horror movie of the 60's, having very funny situations, such as when Dr. West puts his hysterical girlfriend in charge of calming down the local citizens; or when he amputates the hand of Dr. Stanley, who does not faint. The creatures are very creepy, considering that it is a 1966 movie, and in the end it is a good entertainment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Ilha do Terror" ("The Island of Terror")