The Island of Dr Moreau (1977, Burt Lancaster) – Classic Film Review 906

Burt Lancaster stars in 1977 as mad scientist Dr Paul Moreau who creates human-animal hybrids in a gripping, atmospheric and lavish remake of the 1933 film The Island of Lost Souls with Charles Laughton, from the H G Wells novel The Island of Dr Moreau.

Lancaster brings his reliable quality and dignity to Charles Laughton’s old role, and the American International Pictures studio splashes out on a costly ($6million) and handsome-looking production, with location filming at St Croix, US Virgin Islands. A useful cast (Michael York, Nigel Davenport, Barbara Carrera, Richard Basehart and Nick Cravat) as well as makeup designer Tom Burman’s clever (for their time of course) makeup effects help director Don Taylor to conjure up an effective fantasy adventure thriller.

Michael York, particularly, impresses as the hero, air-crash survivor Andrew Braddock, who is taken to Moreau’s mysterious island, where he must try to stop Dr Moreau’s experiments turning beasts into human beings before it is too late.

It was remade again by director John Frankenheimer in 1996 with Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando.

(C) Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Film Review 906 derekwinnert.com

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