La isla de la muerte

Maneater of Hydra was a regular part of the Creature Double Feature program rotation, which aired in New England during the 70s-80s showing monster/sci-fi movies. I remembered this one vividly, for it features a vampiric tree killing the visitors to a mad baron's island. Z-grade movie regular Cameron Mitchell played the Baron. Memories of the film were better than the actual movie, which I managed to hunt down 20 years after last seeing it, but I still find in enjoyable and there is a great B-monster payoff in the last 15 minutes. The animated opening credits with orchestrated music is worth the price of admission alone.

Maneater is a great bit of nostalgia, bringing back childhood memories of rushing home every Saturday to catch Creature Double Feature, spending 3 hours of the afternoon watching the cheesiest movies ever made, and having a blast doing it. This film isn't as bad as people would have you believe.

"Maneater of Hydra" (1966) was a delirious Spanish-German horror tale that aired 5 times on Pittsburgh's CHILLER THEATER from 1969-1972 (I missed it, too young). The dubbing isn't as bad as it could have been, and Cameron Mitchell does not dub his own voice, but it certainly had a weird atmosphere that 1962's "The Day of the Triffids" couldn't match. Obscure in its day, and even more so now, this is a perfect example of the types of features that we enjoyed in the days of late night movies-till-dawn, replaced by dull-as-dishwater paid programming and network gabfests indulging pseudo-hipsters with rabid young audiences that have never experienced anything else. These titles can be difficult to find, and this one was no exception, with a starring role for Cameron Mitchell, who gets to dominate the screen from start to finish. It doesn't work as a mystery because we already know that Baron v. Weser is up to something with his carnivorous plants, feeding a mouse to one, while a fellow botanist steals a cute bunny rabbit to do the same with an unseen creation outside. The director is veteran Roger Corman actor Mel Welles (working behind the camera primarily in Europe), immortalized for his marvelous turn in 1960's "The Little Shop of Horrors," which also dealt with a bloodthirsty plant (he would later direct 1972's "Lady Frankenstein" for Corman's New World Pictures). Welles had just finished an acting part in 1965's "The She-Beast," shot in Italy and Yugoslavia by 21 year old cult director Michael Reeves, and remained in Europe for the remainder of the decade. Cameron Mitchell was coming off a starring role in "Nightmare in Wax," another CHILLER THEATER regular, no stranger to European cinema, whose best work came in the Swedish "Face of Fire" (1958), in a rare sympathetic turn. This must rank as one of his best horrors, with a remarkably grisly climax for its period. He remained busiest in Italy, and frequently collaborated with genre pioneer Mario Bava, particularly on the 1964 cult classic "Blood and Black Lace," which aired 6 times on CHILLER THEATER (quite a showcase for rabid horror fans like myself). "Maneater of Hydra" may not be a classic, but I never found it dull, definitely worth a look.

I hadn't watched this film for about 15 years, but after watching it again I must say that it works quite well. There is an excellent sense of atmosphere created, and Cameron Mitchell underplays his part more in the manner of a Karloff than of a Lugosi (as this is really an update of the old "mad doctor" films of the 30s and 40s). We take six diverse people--an unhappy married couple with a younger wife, a scientist, an older eccentric lady who is voiced in a Fran Drescher manner, a heroic young man (George Martin), and a desirable young woman for him to be interested in--who choose to vacation at the estate of a Count who is engaged in odd scientific research, and watch them deal with the gradual sense of doom...and the gradually more aggressive killer plants developed by Cameron Mitchell. The film is well-paced, and it leads to an exciting climax. MANEATER OF HYDRA/ISLAND OF THE DOOMED must have looked great on a massive drive-in screen back in 1967--it's still worth seeing today for the fan of 60's Euro-horror and for fans of the great Cameron Mitchell (although Mitchell does not dub his own voice).

The heroine in the clutches of a vampire tree, the hero leaping to her aid with an axe - slashing at blood-sucking branches with his weapon - then being attacked by the mad scientist who created the tree, also with an axe!

An axe battle between the two, under the writhing blood-sucking branches, in the middle of a rain-drenched thunderstorm. GREAT staging! What happens next is bloody (incredibly bloody, in fact), outrageous, melodramatic, over-the-top, and (dare I say?) EXCITING!

Now come on - isn't that last ten minutes worth the previous hour and 20 minutes of bad dubbing and odd characterisation?

And what the HELL is that old German woman gibbering on about?

Fans of Man-Eating Plants should check out the Mel Welles site.

"La isla de la muerte" (alternately called "Island of the Doomed" and "Maneater of Hydra" in English) is the sort of movie that only three people could present: Elvira, Joe Bob Briggs, or at least one of the guys on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". I saw it on Elvira's show. It's basically a "Day of the Triffids" ripoff. A bunch of tourists go to an island where a man is breeding carnivorous plants. Naturally, the whole thing is an unintentional laugh riot. To be certain, the character Myrtle reminded me of Kyle's mom on "South Park", while the character David looked how Tony Randall would look if left in the microwave too long.

Anyway, it's the sort of thing that you watch for pure entertainment. When the Mistress of the Dark presented it, she naturally added no shortage of campy commentary (namely that a plant-themed movie has a character whose last name is Moss).

PS: director Mel Welles played the flower shop owner in the original "Little Shop of Horrors".