Voodoo Island

"Voodoo Island" was Boris Karloff's first American film in four years. Nearing his 70th birthday, good parts must have been hard to come by, given that the old Gothic style horror for which he became famous, was now not in vogue.

Hotel entrepreneur Howard Carlton (Owen Cunningham) is planning a new hotel/resort on a distant Pacific Island. A survey team that had been sent out earlier disappeared except for Mitchell (Glenn Dixon) who returned in a zombie like state. Carlton hires Philip Knight (Karloff) an investigative reporter to investigate the remote island where the disappearances occurred.

The expedition includes Knight, his assistant Sara Adams, Carlton's front man Barney Finch (Murvyn Vye), Claire Winter (Jean Engstrom), local resort manager Martin Schuler (Elisha Cook) and his assistant Matthew Gunn (Rhodes Reason). Knight also insists that Mitchell be brought along. Before they leave for the island, Mitchell mysteriously dies and a voodoo death warning is left.

When the expedition arrives at the "voodoo" island, strange things start to happen. First their boat breaks down and later they discover their food supply spoiled trapping them on the island all the while under the watchful eyes of mysterious natives. Then, while enjoying a swim Claire is killed by a flesh eating plant. The rest are captured by the natives. Schuler refuses to leave and later becomes a zombie as does Finch while watching two children play. Will the others escape?

Karloff is totally miscast as the fast talking "Gerardo" type investigative reporter. Although he does his best, he certainly deserved better. He would make two more films in 1958 and then disappear from the screen until 1963 when Roger Corman "rediscovered" him for "The Raven".

The cast spends most of the film trudging across the jungle island. We never see any so-called black magic and are left to wonder how the zombies are created. We do get to see some cheap looking dolls with pins in them though. This was obviously a film on a low budget. Most of it was shot outdoors and the special effects are cheaply done.

Strictly for the lower half of a double bill.

Given the fair warning so generously given me by others, I was prepared for the very worst but surprise, surprise...it wasn't all that bad, after all.

I can't say it was very compelling, true, but it wasn't "dreadfully boring" either, as it's been called. There were some cringe-inducing moments to be sure, particularly when Elisha Cook 'freaked out' towards the end - and I'm still not sure what function the older of the two ladies was supposed to be occupying within the group, but I did find the lesbian undertones (with good reason since I did find Karloff's secretary rather attractive myself) surprising for a schlocky B-movie of its era! So, no great shakes definitely but an adequate time-waster nonetheless...though the voodoo promised by the title had nothing to do with the man-eating plants we eventually ended up with!

Maybe when I get more acquainted with Karloff's other programmers, my opinion of this film will take a nose-dive but so far, it was a watchable diversion and nothing more; besides it was nice to see Karloff in a straight, i.e. non-menacing, role - though it was somewhat uncomfortable to watch him stumble about on many occasions (due to his illness and old age).

This movie was kind of sad to watch, because Karloff is a much better actor than this kind of tripe. It is always a sad commentary when the actors care more about the quality of a movie than the writers, directors and producers, who just were happy to tack Karloff's name on this turkey and run with it...

Okay, apparently, the writers didn't know anything about Voodoo, other than Voodoo dolls and Zombies. They didn't know enough to know that Voodoo happens in the Caribbean, not in the South Pacific. I think this might have been an excuse for everyone to go to Hawaii...

So the characters land on this island and encounter these man-eating plants that resemble... well, I won't tell you what they look like other than to say I am amazed they got past the censors in 1959. Apparently these plants feed by people being so dumb as to walk right into them, not only the explorers, but apparently, natives on this island as well...

"Zombies and chomping plants greet an expedition led by a debunker of the occult." That's the description of VOODOO ISLAND given by TCM and it hits the mark. But the only real reason for watching is the presence of BORIS KARLOFF as the debunker. Others in the cast do little to help the project, but include BEVERLY TYLER as a frigid assistant to Karloff and RHODES REASON as the stalwart leader of the group. His romance with Tyler gets off to a bad start but heats up before the final reel.

The special effects are unintentionally funny, especially a scene where one of the young ladies is attacked by a carnivorous plant. Les Baxter's score is a major asset though, accenting whatever danger is indicated by the script.

But overall, the film is a distinct letdown for anyone expecting a good zombie movie. Most of the action takes place in bright sunlight amid sets that look like leftovers from Fantasy Island.

Summing up: Karloff admirers won't mind watching him here, but no one is likely to be impressed by the lame storyline.

I've seen worse programmers. Boris Karloff brings class to anything he works in. It's fun just to watch him. His ill-health hadn't yet slowed him down and he was a real presence. Elisha Cook also gives an excellent performance.

I think I know how the lesbian undertones between the two women got by (though the tones weren't that "under"). If it had been a big budget picture, the censors would have been on it like white on rice. As a low-budget picture it came in under the radar.

Several of the actors do rise above the material. Actually it reminds me of some of the TV shows being churned out about the same time. They, too, didn't have much of a budget. What adds to the TV feeling are some of the actors, such as Rhodes Reason and Mervyn Vye, who were mainstays of '50s television.