Our Price: $14.98
 |
This was released a year before the production code went into enforcement, and it shows! There are things and suggestions of things here that the filmmakers would never have gotten away with once the Breen Office began imposing its iron fist on Hollywood. H.G. Welles, who wrote the novel on which it was based, was reportedly disgusted by it, but this is still one of the very best fantasy pictures of the early sound era, easily standing alongside 'King Kong' and Whale's 'The Bride of Frankenstein' as the very cream of the crop.That it is still unavailable on DVD is a crime.After more than 70 years this remains an exciting and involving picture with a number of unexpectedly poetic moments. The atmospheric camera work by Karl Struss is pretty sophisticated for the time, the art direction is great, and the makeup, while primitive, is still creepy and effective, with lots of disfigured faces looming eerily out of the darkness. It also has a brisk pace, cramming a lot into its brief running time.In a movie that already has a lot of things going for it, Charles Laughton is one of the best. He gives a magnificently droll performance here, lending the picture a great deal of class. Laughton alone would be enough to give the film a strong recommendation - he's a joy to watch, and, cracking a nasty little smile at the most inappropriate moments, one of the best mad doctors to perform perverted experiments in the history of cinema, hands down. Bela Lugosi, in a minor role, also stands out as the Sayer of the Law. ("Are we not men?" No, not quite.)Again, it really sucks that only the inferior (VERY inferior) film versions of this story are available on DVD. Somebody needs to get on the stick, or else go straight to the House of Pain. |
ethan-excellent.com - Island of Lost Souls - Comparison Shopping and Read Reviews
