Rent Island of Terror (1966)

Spoilers follow ... - Island of Terror review by NP

Planet Film Productions, who distributed (as far as I can tell) a total of six films, beginning in 1951 and ending their run with this, have put together a good, solidly made production featuring an scholarly Peter Cushing. Also, amidst the nicely creepy locations beautifully captured by director Terence Fisher, are the reasons for the ‘terror’ extolled by the title: b-movie style slithering ‘Silicates’, long-necked snail-like creatures that move around with staggering slowness. These monsters either destroy the nicely conveyed spooky atmosphere, or provide a somewhat silly high-point among the serious faces and long coats – depending on your point of view.

The bodies of a series of murdered humans/animals have one gruesome thing in common: their bones have been liquefied, leaving the cadavers ‘all soft and flabby.’ Dr. Bryan Stanley (Cushing) and his authoritarian gang Drs David West and Reginald Landers (Edward Judd and Eddie Byrne) investigate, together with Toni Merrill (Carole Gray) – who has constantly to fight against their ‘stay here, things might get dangerous’, and then screams in terror whenever they are confronted by the Silicates. Girls, eh? The actors do a good job of staring in terror at these wonderfully daft creatures, who occasionally exude slimy spaghetti when attacked. Gray in particular does her best with Merrill, who looks pretty but is written as the wilting female who needs to be looked after.

Terence Fisher doesn’t make much of effort to make these monsters look particularly terrifying. A couple of zoom-ins, otherwise it seems to be a case of ‘point the camera at them and let them get on with it.’ (“They don’t seem to be moving very fast,” Stanley says at one point.) And yet the briefly seen boneless corpses are very effective, as is the depiction of something unpleasant happening to stoic Dr. Stanley’s hand toward the end, which is genuinely shocking.

Overall, this is good fun. The island setting is authentic and the sets are packed with convincing rural detail. It remains a lesser-known Peter Cushing film, however. “We were lucky this is an island. If it had happened anywhere else, I don’t think we would have been able to destroy them,” says West shortly before the film ends with an ominous final scene. Tremendous.

Humdrum - Island of Terror review by sb

FILM & REVIEW So a plodding British sci-fi horror - a group of scientists are working on a remote island off the Irish Coast to create something that will eat cancer cells which unfortunately gets out of hand and eats them instead leaving them litterly boneless. Local doctor engages specialists Peter Cushing and Edward Judd who (accompanied by the latters dolly bird) and they set out to solve the mystery. It’s soon revealed that it’s silicite beings who absorb calcium to blame and the race is on to destroy them as they split and reproduce every 3 hours. I suppose the monsters are ok for the tiny budget and Cushing brings his normal charm and gravitas while Judd is heroic with quite a good finale as the village hall is attacked with a neat twist at the end but really expected more from director Terrance Fisher …3/5

More Bone? - Island of Terror review by Steve

It isn't obvious why this sci-fi Hammer horror ripoff is so durable. There's clearly zero budget as the monsters and special effects are pitiful. The dialogue has the idiotic faux scientific jargon which must have felt dated even back then: 'Is the tri-chem stage complete?/Yes/And the vapour-applicator?/The histo-connect problem has been solved...' Though that can be fun!

Also on the debit side is an inappropriate music score which sounds like it was composed for a glossy mid-60s spy spoof. The story is hardly original, with echoes of Day of the Triffids (1963) and the Quatermass series; research boffins meaning to cure cancer inadvertently create hoover-like creatures which absorb the bone from anyone looking in the wrong direction...

So why still so entertaining after all these years? Much of the credit is due to stalwart Hammer director Terence Fisher, who generates quite a lot of suspense from the standard situations. The photography is much better than it needs to be. And the cast are clearly not phoning this in. No matter that every one of these actors once dreamed of playing Hamlet... Or Ophelia!

They still treat their foolish encounters with the latex bone-munchers with integrity; even poor Carole Gray who is stuck with the most annoying scream queen role in films. Peter Cushing is an appealingly rakish academic. Edward Judd is also fine as a playboy orthopaedic specialist. We even get Niall MacGinnis as the head yokel. So thanks to them all- from the real future!