Isle of the Dead (1945) User Reviews

Eerie drama of quarantined souls on a Greek island in 1912...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 31 October 2006]

BORIS KARLOFF is a Greek general whose wife's body has mysteriously vanished from its tomb at the start of ISLE OF THE DEAD. He's naturally suspicious that something more evil than the plague has crept over the island he decides must be quarantined--forbidding anyone from leaving it. ELLEN DREW is a young woman he suspects may have something to do with evil spirits--or even vampirism--and MARC CRAMER is a young soldier who wants to protect her.

All the ingredients for a good chiller are here, but it's a story that gets its main strength, not from the plot, but from the sinister, shadowy B&W photography that sets up the moody atmosphere from the start, with an air of dread lingering over every scene.

Aiding considerably are strong performances from KATHERINE EMERY as a sick woman who fears being buried alive, and HELEN THIMIG as a superstitious old woman. In fact, all of the supporting players do well under Mark Robson's taut direction.

The tale itself is not one of my favorites but it's a credit to all concerned that they do a job of giving it a creepiness that should satisfy even the most jaded of Gothic horror fans.

And yet, ultimately, there's a bit of a letdown as far as the story itself is concerned. The ingredients are all there, but something vital is missing and I'm sorry to say I don't know exactly what it is.

Nevertheless, holds the interest throughout.

Plague Island

[telegonus · 7/10 · 2 December 2002]

Plague victims are dropping like flies in this somewhat sluggish, Mark Robson-directed entry in the Val Lewton horror cycle. This one isn't as well-written as the earlier films in the series, and the isolation, while nicely suggested psychologically, fails to cast the spell of hopelessness and despair it ought to. The movie is too genteel to be frightening, and lacks the fine tuning of a director like Jacques Tourneur, who surely would have made more of it. Boris Karloff is quite good in the "lead", however, and the supporting cast is competent if unexciting. By today's standards, there's not much to be scared of here, and though it works up a nice head of steam near the end, it succeeds more as a mood piece than a horror tale.

Not dead, but liminal.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 20 July 2006]

This isn't Val Lewton's best, although it's by no means a failure, given the strictures of the production -- budget, schedule, and so on.

The story has a handful of people quarantined on a Greek island so as not to spread the plague. Half of them die of the disease, two are murdered by a crazed woman who was prematurely buried, and one is a suicide. Only the gentlemanly host and the two young lovers survive.

The acting varies in quality, with Boris Karloff being noticeably more professional than anybody else, as the stern, protective General whose skepticism about vorvolaka (some kind of night-time demon from the grave) is finally ground away by the stress and by the whispers of the old crone who believes in the superstition.

Unfortunately, the script lets everyone down. Halfway through the film, the wind changes and the plague is forgotten. The rest of the story has to do with that escapee from the premature burial who runs around with a miniature version of Poseidon's trident, using it to the distress of the others.

It wouldn't be bad if the two sources of horror were somehow fused and hinged together -- the plague and the vorvolaka -- but they're not. The superstition actually arises out of an illness that has nothing to do with plague, as the film makes clear from the start. We wind up with the impression that we're watching the same actors in the same wardrobe on the same set -- but making two different movies.

The direction by Mark Robson is okay, and Lewton will have his little touches. The eeriest scene is a simple one -- a vulnerable woman in a peasant dress following the chirping of a bird through a dark and windy forest. Night. And she's all by herself. And there's a madwoman with a sharp object somewhere. Little Red Riding Hood all ready to be eaten.

But that's about it. Whatever scare factor is built into the movie comes from the images on screen, not from the story.

What always surprises me about Val Lewton's productions at RKO is that, even when they're no more than middling, they are B movies that manage never to insult the audience. They are never done by the number, or at any rate not by any numbers that exist outside of Val Lewton's head.

It's All Greek to Me!

[BaronBl00d · 20 January 2002]

Boris Karloff heads a group of internationals quarantined on a small Greek island during the Balkan War of 1912. A plague has visited the island and forces a group of unlike people to stay together in order to not spread the plague. Karloff plays a misunderstood, rather austere Greek general known for his coldness. Others on the island include Jason Robards Sr. as a man who prays to the Greek gods of old, beautiful Ellen Drew as a serving woman thought to be a "Greek vampire" by an older superstitious Greek woman, Alan Napier and Katherine Emery as an aristocratic English couple, and several others. Karloff is wonderful in a role that has nothing to do with anything he had ever or would ever play. His face is a character of its own. The rest of the cast is very good too(Robards is a bit annoying, however). Drew is lovely. The real star of the film is the atmosphere created in the film. Director Mark Robson, under the production savvy of Val Lewton, creates a film reeking with eerie settings, a feeling of isolation and all-pervading doom, and a somewhat slow-pace that ordinarily might seem sluggish but under Robson's direction adds only to the mood.

A Vorvola?

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 15 January 2008]

I'm still not quite sure what I saw in Isle of the Dead. I do know it succeeded in giving me the willies.

Several people gather on Greek Island during the Balkan Wars when a type of plague strikes and folks die one by one. One old peasant woman, Helene Thimig suspects young and pretty Ellen Drew of being a monster called a Vorvola which was part of the old Greek religion of Zeus and the rest of the folks from Olympus. The problem is that she gets old Greek general Boris Karloff, a brooding and suspicious man to start with, believing it as well.

Imagine Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None laced with the atmosphere of a horror film and you've got Isle of the Dead. At the end of the film you're not even sure what's happened, but the mood created in you by producer Val Lewton will linger on.

I'm not sure what a guy like Val Lewton would have done with a big budget in a studio like MGM or Paramount. Those recycled RKO sets with the proper sinister lighting were a signature with him.

So was there a Vorvola? Watch and judge for yourself.

Not as good as it should have been

[The_Void · 6/10 · 30 January 2005]

I'm a big fan of Val Lewton's atmospheric chillers. Of course, he did his best work with the great Jacques Tourneur, but there's still some gems to found outside of that collaboration. Robert Wise/Boris Karloff film 'The Body Snatcher' is a good example of that; but unfortunately, this collaboration with Boris Karloff isn't an entry in Lewton's filmography that he can be proud of. Isle of the Dead suffers, basically, because for the most part it's boring. Unlike earlier and later efforts from Val Lewton, this one doesn't do a very good job in setting itself up; the characters are introduced and some ideas are put forward, but it's not done with any conviction and so the result is dull and dreary. Take 'Cat People', for example. That film gave it's premise and the rest of the film drew you into it until the climax. Isle of the Dead doesn't do that, and instead we're basically given a premise and the rest of the movie features the characters festering in it. It really doesn't make for very compelling viewing.

This movie is of note for featuring a great performance from the legendary Boris Karloff. As usual, Karloff is creepy and malevolent, and yet very real at the same time. Even in a rather dull movie, Karloff can deliver a great performance; and that's what he does here. Director Mark Robson doesn't live up to the high standard set by the likes of Robert Wise and indeed Jacques Tourneur and the film never breathes that foreboding atmosphere that you could cut with a knife that Val Lewton's chillers are famous for capturing. The fact that nearly the entire piece is set on a Greek island, cut off from civilisation gives a stark impression of claustrophobia, but anyone that compares this film to the likes of 'I Walked With a Zombie' and 'The Body Snatcher' will find that it hardly does as good a job as the exhibition of atmosphere that is those films. The film never truly manages to get inside it's characters heads either, and this holds it back greatly as that's what psychological thrillers are meant to do.

At least the film ends on a high, but the ending is really my only reason to recommend the film. I would suggest seeing some other films that Val Lewton produced before seeing this one, and giving this a go if you enjoy those films.

Atmospheric but lacking something

[rosscinema · 6/10 · 5 November 2002]

Not bad Val Lewton production that has Boris Karloff portraying to some degree a Greek soldier and takes charge of a group of people on a nearby island where they might be carrying the plague, or is it from evil demons? Starts off slowly but becomes fairly entertaining during the last half hour. Ellen Drew is very pretty and is persecuted by some of the others who are superstitious. One thing I did notice in this film is that Karloff was not real tall. Remember those big shoes in "Frankenstein"? He had them for a reason. Lewton has done better but this film is enhanced by Karloff's presence and Drew's natural beauty.

Superstition and Death

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 31 December 2014]

In 1912, during the First Balkan War, the cruel, heartless and superstitious Greek General Nikolas Pherides (Boris Karloff) rows a boat to a small island with the American Boston Star journalist Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer) to visit his wife's grave. They find it destroyed and the body missing and they overhear a woman singing. Soon they learn that the archaeologist Albrecht (Jason Robards Sr.) lives in the island with his servant Madame Kyra (Helene Thimig) and is welcoming his friends St. Aubyn (Alan Napier), his wife Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn (Katherine Emery) and their servant Thea (Ellen Drew); and Andrew Robbins (Skelton Knaggs).

Albrecht invites General Pherides and Oliver to spend the night with them but during the night, Andrew dies. General Pherides summons Dr. Drossos (Ernst Dorian) that informs that Andrew died of pestilence and advises that they have to stay quarantined in the spot for the plague until the warm and dry Sirocco wind blows in the island. Otherwise it might happen an outbreak in the continent. The superstitious Kyra convinces General Pherides that Thea is the evil demon Vorvolaka and Mrs. St. Aubyn and Oliver need to protect her against the ignorance.

"Isle of the Dead" is a dramatic horror movie about superstition and death. The claustrophobic story is very well developed, with a beautiful black and white cinematography, excellent camera work and great performance of Boris Karloff and Ellen Drew. The climax with the reappearance of the deranged Mrs. St. Aubyn is creepy and ambiguous. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Ilha dos Mortos" ("The Isle of the Dead")

Karloff Most Effective In Psychological Thriller

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 31 October 2001]

In 1912, a stern old Greek general finds himself trapped on the ISLE OF THE DEAD after an outbreak of the dreaded plague.

When the front office at RKO Pictures informed producer Val Lewton that Boris Karloff had been procured to appear in his next suspense film, he wasn't entirely pleased. Karloff was famous for his portrayal of horrific monsters & mummies, sensationalist creations not at all in tune with the psychological thrillers for which Lewton was noted -- with very low budgets, he was able to fashion fascinating films in which the atmosphere was every bit as important as the plot.

Luckily, Karloff turned out to be an inspired choice. Determined to show that he was a skilled actor (actually, he was a very fine & talented performer) he was completely in sync with what Lewton envisaged, giving a nuanced portrayal of an essentially decent man who finds himself slowly driven to a sort of despair by the forces around him. He becomes the heart of a film which wisely saves its shocks for the last few minutes, having built up to the eerie climax slowly & inexorably.

Lewton was very pleased with Karloff's work and arranged two more collaborations. With only two weeks left in filming ISLE OF THE DEAD, Karloff had to be hospitalized for serious back problems. On his release from hospital, he found Lewton was all prepared to film THE BODY SNATCHER (1945). Karloff gave another wonderful performance, before finally finishing ISLE OF THE DEAD. The following year Karloff starred in Lewton's BEDLAM (1946), completing the trio of very tidy thrillers.

Karloff's co-stars give him good support, especially Ernst Deutsch as a military doctor; Alan Napier & Katherine Emery as a British consul and his invalid wife; Helen Thimig as a superstitious Greek peasant; and little Skelton Knaggs, who in a tiny scene with only a few words is able to make his Cockney tinker character come alive.

Ellen Drew & Marc Cramer handle the romance, which fortunately does not intrude too much on the story.

The viewer, in the course of watching ISLE OF THE DEAD, will discover much about the medical state of catatonia, as well as the monstrous vorvolaka, part vampire - part werewolf, which haunts Greek nightmares.

Lewton based his ideas for this film on a painting he had seen as a boy in Russia, Arnold Böcklin's darkly allegorical Island of the Dead (1880), which is shown behind the opening credits of the film. This somewhat sinister painting was also the inspiration for Sergey Rachmaninoff's celebrated symphonic poem, ‘The Isle of the Dead' (1909).

Incidentally, the conflict which is the background to the film was the Balkan War of 1912, in which the Balkan League (Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria & Montenegro) attacked the Ottoman Empire and destroyed most of its hegemony on the European continent. Begun in October and ended in December, it was short & bloody. However, troubles in Constantinople started hostilities up again in January of 1913. It finally ended in May, with the Turks once more decisively defeated. Although the Empire was left very much weakened, the War solved very little else. In June, the victorious parties began fighting amongst themselves, with Greece & Serbia trouncing Bulgaria by August. Greece ended the two short Wars with Crete and parts of Macedonia & Epirus added to her territories and the new state of Albania was carved out of old Ottoman lands. But ancient animosities were aroused and the entire Peninsula lay waiting for the next international incident, which obligingly took place 10 months later at the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

Somber reflection on mortality disguised as horror thriller

[mlraymond · 7/10 · 8 November 2006]

This slow, moody little film is more an interesting set of character studies than a horror movie. The script is thoughtful, and the players, especially Katherine Emery as the British consul's wife, Ernst Dorian as the military doctor, and Jason Robards, Sr. as the archaeologist, are all pretty good. Karloff tends to take the stage most of the time with a quiet, but riveting performance as a Greek general slowly crumbling into madness. An excellent performance by Helene Thimig as a sarcastic, bitter old peasant woman, is remarkable for the way she arouses intense dislike in the viewer, and yet is a believable, human sort of villain. The film's atmosphere is dark and filled with gloom, appropriately reflected in the foreboding cinematography. Practically all the action takes place at night, on the confined space of a small island. The sense of fear and hopeless dependence on fate to rescue the trapped people is extremely well portrayed. Not a true classic, perhaps, but well worth seeing.

A slow death

[tomsview · 5/10 · 13 May 2013]

Although Val Lewton's "Cat People", "The Seventh Victim" and "I Walked with a Zombie" are some of the most intriguing films ever, I don't think he and his team were able to breathe much life into "Isle of the Dead".

The film takes place in 1912 at the conclusion of a battle between Greece and an unnamed enemy. Most of the action, and I use the word advisedly, happens on an island where a group of people are quarantined to stop the spread of a deadly plague. A superstition begins to take hold that the plague is linked to a demonic creature, a Vorvolakas, which can inhabit one person and feed off the spirit of another. Many die before the sickness ends.

The one and only large scale set, the battlefield at night, is unconvincing and stagy. The so-called septicemic plague that strikes down the group consists of victims staggering around and then dying rather serenely. Maybe the real effects of septicemic plague with limbs changing colour as the body's blood supply is rapidly poisoned was just too horrific in 1945 even for a horror film.

Although many ideas are espoused, "Isle of the Dead" is an interminable talkfest. The actors project the stillness and lack of animation that was a hallmark of Lewton's films. The exception is Boris Karloff, who as General Pherides, commander of the Greek Army, brings a powerful presence to the proceedings. Unfortunately he is let down by the overwrought script.

With so much depending on dialogue, it is surprising that the screenwriters had so little feeling for military life and the importance of Pherides as the commander of the Greek army.

Ridiculously he is able to walk off the battlefield with only a reporter in tow to visit his wife's grave on a nearby island. They do this so casually, despite walking through piles of bodies, that it wouldn't have seemed sillier if they had hailed a taxi. One aspect of the film that is particularly distracting is when the General, although marooned on the island by the plague, somehow manages to send for a doctor, but otherwise makes little attempt to tell his army where he is nor indicates that he might even be missed. It's certainly not the way George S. Patton would have handled things.

The basic elements that made other Lewton tales so effective are here, but assembled in such a lacklustre fashion that they do not elevate the film above it's barely serviceable sets. Along with "The Ghost Ship", I find "Isle of the Dead" the least appealing of his films. Lewton's best work may have been behind him by this stage, although, "The Body Snatchers" and "Bedlam" would go a long way towards recapturing past glories.

My favourite Val Lewton film

[A_Roode · 9/10 · 22 March 2006]

When searching and looking up movies on the IMDb I'll often come across movies and think to myself that 'this one should be a little bit higher,' or 'that one should be a little bit lower' -- generally speaking I'm pretty comfortable with the ratings that I see. Every now and then though I find a rating that just absolutely mystifies me. Did the people who voted watch the same movie that I did? The number is an extreme from where I think the film actually belongs. For me, Val Lewton's 'Isle of the Dead' is one of those films. It currently has a rating of 6.4 and when I saw that I was stunned to say the very least.

I first saw this movie on late night BBC (I was living in England at the time) a couple of years ago. It has stayed with me ever since. I love old movies and horror movies are one of the kinds of film that I actively seek out and watch. 'Isle of the Dead' had a lot of competition if it wanted to have any lasting impact with me. It left a great impression and is the reason that years later I've sought out the rest of Val Lewton's work. 'Isle of the Dead' remains my favourite and I truly hope that people will give it another look.

Let me start with the setting. When I originally watched it I thought it was so fresh and original to set a horror film during the Balkan's war in 1912. I can't think of any other films that have done that before or since. You get a very morbid opening scene that reveals a great deal about Karloff's character. He doesn't instruct a sub-ordinate to commit suicide, but he publicly humiliates them and pushes a revolver towards them after making it quite clear that their military career is over. He has an extreme sense of duty, justice and obligation. Fail, in his eyes, and you'll pay a deep price. He's also very protective in his nature -- especially of the men who he commands. He is modern in his approach. Reason and logic are his weapons but superstition and a sense of obligation are his foundation. This is the man who will be trapped and quarantined on an island with a group of travellers and strangers while a plague, or something more sinister, slowly kills each of them off.

The movie is extremely claustrophobic and very well done. They can see the mainland but can't go to it. They are trapped in their own rooms -- alone -- or in the house with the other quarantees. The doctor will try to save them. Science, reason and logic -- the General's core -- will protect them. But when that core begins to fail, he is influenced by superstition, folklore and hysteria ... and acts accordingly. It is a terrific part for Karloff and the General is a great character study. The psychological depth is wonderful. There MUST be a rational explanation for the deaths. They try, and fail, to fight plague-like symptoms by using plague preventative techniques. He is so wedded to finding rational solutions that when confronted with their failure, paradoxically, he decides that the rational solution must be supernatural agents at work.

'Willing Suspension of Disbelief,' seems to be an unfamiliar concept for some of the film's naysayers. The film is unbelievable because people from different countries appear to be able to converse -- without difficulty -- in one language. It is in Greece and the only non-Greek characters are a British diplomat and his wife (may we presume that being a diplomat to Greece, knowledge of how to speak it MIGHT be advantageous?) an American reporter covering the war and a Greek general (since he doesn't have an interpreter, MIGHT he not have some knowledge of the language?), an ex-pat archaeologist who has been there for over a decade (he's probably had NO opportunity to pick up ANY of the language then, eh?) and a travelling student who is eager to return home (that classical education of Greek likely being of no use to him). People don't like the costuming either -- Karloff's wig being such a distraction that it makes the film unenjoyable for them. I really have no way of responding to what seems like an infinitesimally small and nit-picky criticism. The core of the story is whether or not as a horror film and a character study it successfully builds tension and depth from beginning to end. Do consequences of actions have meaning? The tension is high from the opening scene and the stakes only get higher through the film until the final bloody conclusion. The scares are fantastic -- particularly one in the shadows and who comes out of them. There is a tremendous scene with a coffin that is the very height of anxiety, despair and cinematic tension. Is that scene predictable? OF COURSE it is! That's what makes it's eventual occurrence so intense! It is a huge pay-off that is advertised with great skill and execution. This is one of the best films that Mark Robson ever directed and I think he graduated to A-list director largely because of it.

'Isle of the Dead' is under-watched, under-rated, and a gem of cinema intense in it's own beauty. It might be my favourite horror film of the 1940's through 50's.

Not necessarily what you might have expected

[bobc-5 · 6/10 · 5 October 2001]

Nikolas "Watchdog" Pherides (Boris Karloff), a Greek general fighting in the Balkan wars, is known for the unbending vigilance with which he fights for what he believes in. His motivations seem sincere but his methods can be extreme. During a break in battle, he and a journalist cross to a small island to visit his wife's tomb. While there, he is convinced to spend the night in the relative luxury of the island's only household. In the morning, one of the guests is found dead from the plague. The general imposes a quarantine on the island and calls for the doctor. When a rational, scientific approach to attacking the plague seems to make no difference at all, myth and superstition take over, turning the island's residents against one another.

Although "Boris Karloff in Isle of the Dead" certainly sounds like a typical low-budget monster/horror film of the 30s and 40s, this turns out instead to be more of a suspense/mystery in the style of Edgar Allen Poe. As the movie progresses, it does begin to throw in a few contrived horror elements, particularly near the end. It isn't nearly enough to turn this into the typical horror film which some may have expected, but it is enough to damage an already weak script which fails to do justice to the story. Karloff is memorable in his roll and gets competent support from the direction and the rest of the cast, but the production itself does not appear to have ever set its sights very high. The result is an eerie and interesting film, but one which is not nearly as gripping and disturbing as it should be.

Insipidly flat

[lost-in-limbo · 5/10 · 20 January 2005]

On a Greek island during the 1912 war, a few people are trapped by quarantine for the plague and an old lady believes the people are dying because the Greek girl among them is a vampire.

Well this was one real flat movie; it had little suspense, but nothing really captivating. Val Lewton films always have stunning atmospheres, settings and always-good acting, but that's all I can recommend about it.

Boris Karloff's performance is fairly good, but not one of his greatest. Marc Cramer as Oliver Davis the newspaperman and Ellen Drew as Thea the Geek girl seem to outshine Karloff. Also not forgetting the good performances from Ernest Dorian as Dr Drossos from the army unit and Helen Thimig as Madame Kyra.

The island that they're trapped on is quite atmospheric and chilling, but for me the story didn't take full advantage of it. The direction form Mark Robson is uneven, but it's the story that could've added some more depth and panic to the situation, as the scenes just seemed to limp along in this moody melodrama… and yes the melodrama seems to take front-stage, with the horror in the backdrop. The ending just added more to the frustration with its bland and uninteresting conclusion.

It's not bad by any means, but I just found it rather disappointing. For me it was Val Lewton's weakest Horror film.

2/5

Not quite what the title etc suggests it would be but still enjoyable

[bob the moo · 17 August 2005]

It is 1912 and Greece is deeply involved in the Balkan War. General Nikolas Pherides is in charge of a group of soldiers – driving them to breaking point in what some might call a cruel, twisted sense of patriotism. On a visit to the grave of his wife with visiting American Oliver Davis, Pherides finds the graves vandalised and demands answers from the local residents. He gets them but also accepts their offer of a bed for the night to save them making the long journey back to the troops. However during the night the plague is found on the small island and quarantine is declared to protect the troops. However they quickly find that the plague is not the only danger on the mysterious island.

Although the plot is unnecessarily busy considering the short running time, this is an effective enough drama although I would have liked more of the atmospheric horror to it. The plot involves the plague, suspicious characters, a driven man and possibly the undead; it builds well on the air of mystery and atmosphere although it never really gets close to some of the better Val Lewton films. Likewise the plot, although easy to follow, is not as simple and effective as it could have been and the various threads tend to slow down the film rather than compliment the atmosphere. The atmosphere is still good, although Robson has given it more of a melodramatic use of shadow at times rather than a tense use. That said, some moments are quite chilling and it'll still work on that basis.

Cramer is the main character despite the lower billing; he is a fairly standard, square jawed actor and he isn't that interesting as a result. Karloff is where the show is at and, although he is not playing a monster to the same degree as he often would, he is still very interesting and his performance is good. Support is so-so from the rest of the cast; Drew and Thimig are pretty good but Napier, Robards and Emery are not given the same chance to really shine.

Overall this is an enjoyable film but not the one to come to if you want to see the best that Lewton had to offer. The plot is more drama than atmospheric horror but it does still do this well at points. The cast are mostly good but they do tend to get in the way of Karloff, who is missed every time he goes off the screen.

Plague Follows After the Wars

[TheRedDeath30 · 6/10 · 6 December 2014]

I am a big fan of classic horror cinema and I've been working through the entries in the magnificent book HIDDEN HORROR which spotlights "underappreciated" horror films from every era. This movie was one of those recommended in that book. I will admit, right off the bat, that I'm not as big a fan of Val Lewton's movies as other classic horror junkies. I would say my favorite of his work is I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, but in general I prefer just a little more action in my movies. I can enjoy a slow burn, or a movie built on atmosphere, certainly, but I prefer the action of a Universal monster movie over the understated chills of Lewton's work at RKO.

I say all of that to confirm that this movie had much the same effect on me as many of the other Lewton works that I've seen, namely, it was okay. Nothing special and nothing that I would go out of my way to view again. It's relentlessly bleak. Almost like Lewton making a film version of a Camus novel. While many of Lewton's movies revolved around the specter of death, this one just brings death forth and makes it a central character. Death is everywhere in this movie as the plague invades a small Greek island.

The real main character is Karloff as a brutal Greek general. The story revolves around him, mainly, and the war between science and superstition, created at a time when many of the old world superstitions still lingered around some.

The movie definitely gets more chilling towards the end and utilizes some film techniques and camera angles that were well-done for the time the movie was created. They bring things to a satisfying conclusion, but by that point in the movie, I had already lost a good deal of my interest.

The question you should ask yourself is how deep into classic horror cinema are you? If you've seen all of the most famous ones and you're looking for something new, this is worth the shot, but there are many classic films that would rank higher than this for the new initiate to classic horror or the Karloff filmography.

An Atmosphere of Death!

[bsmith5552 · 7/10 · 24 November 2005]

"Isle of the Dead" was the second of three films that Boris Karloff made for famed producer Val Lewton in 1945-46. It has all of the Lewton trademarks, darkness and shadows, mystery, horror and good performances. The film was directed by Mark Robson but follows Lewton's proved path to success. The film has an aura of impending death throughout. It also has more on screen violence than most Lewton films but it still manages to play with the audience's emotions and imagination.

The film opens during the Balkan War of 1912 in a Greek army camp commanded by General Nikolas Pherides (Karloff). There is a particular gruesome scene here as the General walks through the camp. We see wagon loads of dead soldiers being drawn by other soldiers to a mass burial. It seems that a deadly plague is sweeping across the country.

Located on an island across from the camp is an island on which Pherides' wife is buried. During a lull in the war, General Pherides and a reporter Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer) row over to the island. There, they are drawn to the haunting voice of a young woman.

Investigating, the pair come upon the home of an antique collector named Albrecht (Jason Robards Sr.) who offers the men lodging for the night. There they meet the St. Aubyns, British diplomats (Alan Napier, Katherine Emery), a young girl, whose voice was heard earlier, Thea (Ellen Drew) and a mysterious old lady named Madame Kyra (Helene Thimig).

When St. Aubyn falls ill, Pherides sends for his medical officer, Dr. Drossos (Ernest Drossos). The doctor diagnoses the illness as the plague and the diplomat soon dies. The General quarantines the island allowing none to leave. We learn that Mrs. St. Aubyn is susceptible to cataleptic seizures and that she has been befriended by Thea. Madame Kyra believes that Thea is a vampire and that she is responsible for the plague on the island. She manages to raise doubts in the mind of the General who confronts the young girl one night in one of the film's key scenes.

More deaths occur including the "apparent" death of Mrs. St. Aubyn. When she awakes..................

Lewton and Robson again play on the audience's fear of the unknown. Is Thea really a vampire? Is Mrs. St. Aubyn really dead? and the ultimate fear of being buried alive.

Karloff gives another outstanding performance as General Pherides, who tries to be the protector of the small group. Of the rest of the cast, Helene Thimig as the superstitious Madame Kyra and Katherine Emery as Mrs. St. Aubyn, stand out.

Followed by Lewton's final RKO "B" horror film, "Bedlam" (1946).

The Val Lewton touch....

[faraaj-1 · 7/10 · 17 February 2007]

Isle of the Dead is not the best of Val Lewton's films but has enough to confirm the man's genius as the force behind Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie. The major weakness with Isle of the Dead is an excruciatingly slow first half hour. After that the pace picks up rapidly and the last 15 minutes are a real nail-biter. The mood and atmosphere are present, eerily effective and reminiscent of I Walked with a Zombie.

This time the setting is an almost deserted Greek island that serves as a cemetery and on which Greek General Boris Karloff (miscast but enjoyable) finds himself stuck with a plague outbreak while his troops are fighting the Ottomans during the Balkan War of 1912. He goes from being a cold, logical and hard man who rapidly starts giving orders to civilians to one who gradually begins to believe local superstitions about the 'vorvolaka' an undead creature of the night and eventually feels he has been smitten by the vorvolaka. Karloff was not Lewton's ideal choice for this film and he does act more in the expressionless Frankenstein vein for the first half hour before he warms to his character. The rest of the cast is appropriately unknown lending more importance to the settings and atmosphere. This is definitely enjoyable for fans of the Val Lewton-Jacque Tourneur collaborations albeit not as good.

My Big Fat Greek Cemetery.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 11 April 2019]

For World War I general Boris Karloff, a visit to the island where his late wife was laid to rest comes with shocking horrors. First, he finds all the graves torn apart and the corpses destroyed, then he finds the caretaker and his family nearadness. They blame it on an ancient Greek legend, the story of a living demon who exists in the real world during their waking hours but their soul dealing with sinister forces during their sleeping hours. Who this demon is remains unknown, but for Karloff, a general known for his brutal treatment of troops the idea of it drives him to Madness as he tries to protect the remaining residents of the Island from plague.

Horror producer Val Lewton never made a bad film, but not all of them are classics. This is certainly an interesting film, made with the care of his other films, and thought provoking over its view into the night world that we live in while we slumber. Like the same year's "The Body Snatcher", this features a haunting song sung as Karloff arrives on the mysterious isle of the dead. Like Lewton's "I Walked with a Zombie", this features a mysterious female figure floating around in a vamipress like gown, and like many other horror movies of this era, an older woman who seems to be the only one with the wisdom to see the truth, unfortunately not a positive outlook for her future.

Ellen Drew is the feisty heiress to the island, immediately suspicious of Karloff thanks to his reputation, and Marc Emery is the new officer assigned to accompany Karloff Who falls for her. Katherine Emery and Alan Na good performances, but it is the Direction by Mark Robson, and the fabulous camerawork which assisted by great editing and musical score musical score, makes this a unique look at another nightmarish aspect of the old world that can definitely provide nightmares. It is not a horror film in the sense that it shows off much horrific activity, but the unknowing of what is out there is the stuff that can make you shiver even more.

One of Val Lewton's best horror movie

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 12 November 2002]

Scary, fascinating tale set in 1912 Greece. A bunch of people are quarantined on an island (which contains a graveyard) by the plague. A general (Boris Karloff) is in charge, but people dying from the plague, the isolation and close quarters begin to eat away at him. He starts to believe a young, healthy woman among them is a vorvolaka (a vampire). And there's the woman who has an extreme fear of being buried alive...

Quick paced and very literate horror film. There's lots of dialogue about faith, wars, superstition--all of it interesting. The settings are very dark, eerie with a spooky wind always blowing. There are scary moments throughout but they really shift into high gear during the final 15 minutes.

This movie gave me nightmares when I was little! The cast is adequate (except for Jason Robards Sr.--boy, was he annoying!) but Karloff and Katherine Emery were excellent.

Truly frightening old horror film. A definite must-see.

An interesting film in today's context--75 years after its release

[rquevill · 7/10 · 20 June 2020]

This movie was among the series of Val Lewton movies that were rather hastily made in an unsuccessful attempt to "save" RKO from going under finacially. As was true of all of the series (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The 7th Victim, etc.), Isle of the Dead is a much better movie than one would expect under the circumstances of its production. True, putting a curly blonde wig on Boris Karloff and casting him as a Greek general was a stretch, but I love Karloff and he was not asked to change his wonderful British accent for the role. It is well-written and Mark Robson's direction is competent. Overall, it is a solid, suspenseful film.

Viewed now (June 2020), in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic, several plot elements take on added significance. The movies follows a group of people who discover that there is a deadly infectious disease affecting them. The advice of the doctor is to 1) quarantine on the island, so as not to spread the disease to the mainland, 2) wash hands frequently, 3) keep out of close contact with one another, and 4) especially avoid groups. The threat of the disease is compounded by the increasing mental instability of their leader, who becomes increasingly dangerous and erratic.

For those viewers who can still appreciate a movie from the mid-1940's, Isle of the dead can provide an interesting bridge to the current day.

Some nice touches, but it drags

[pninson · 4/10 · 14 October 2005]

This picture contains a few nice atmospheric bits, but nothing much happens. There's very little tension, and what there is comes only at the very end.

More could have been done with the mythic Greek elements of the story, rather than falling back on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Premature Burial". I'd recommend this picture only to hardcore Karloff fans and aficionados of Val Lewton (although many Lewton fans agree that this is one his weaker pictures).

Definitely not one to keep you on the edge of your seat, but not exactly boring.

One bit doesn't make sense. Karloff comes to the island with the journalist, and then destroys the rowboat to keep everyone from escaping. How did the rest of the people get there? Well, let's assume he wrecked the other boats, too, although one of the characters says, "He's wrecked the only boat on the island!"

Under-appreciated gem

[GKersh · 8/10 · 24 October 2000]

Wonderfully atmospheric film with a unique sense of place and well-drawn characters. Karloff's performance here is excellent, yet very different from his work in other films. You may be disappointed if you go in expecting something like his horror classics for Universal. This one is suggestive rather than shocking, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the subtle horrors of Cat People, The Innocents, or even Rosemary's Baby. Because of its literate script and interesting character development, Isle of the Dead may also appeal to others who don't usually like horror.

Great atmosphere.

[phasermuse · 7/10 · 6 November 2005]

I saw this movie when I was a teenager and totally dedicated to being scared by most horror films I saw. This movie, I well remember, gave me some great chills which built to the end.

I bought the DVD recently, especially for Halloween--which of course, it arrived 3 days after. Anyway, I was not disappointed with the movie. It moved along nicely from somewhat sinister settings and a mismatch of people who become isolated due to the threat of plague. The man in charge, a Greek general (well played by Boris Karloff) takes over when he suspects the possibility of passing the illness to his troops on the mainland. What interested me most was not that the picture wasn't as well done as I originally thought, but that the characters had so much more depth than I imagined. The general was not an evil tyrant and the housekeeper was not an old witch egging him on out of her envy toward the lovely, young woman. She still seems like an old witch, but this time around I felt her belief in the supernatural and understood her fears which she passed along to the general who had been brought up with the same superstitions. As the first victim succumbs to a mysterious illness and then his wife apparently dies of the same the general's mind becomes affected by the old ways and he falls prey to imagination.

It was not the all-out scary picture I remembered, but it was certainly well done (good old Val Lewton and company). It moved along smoothly and swiftly and built to a very rational and chilling end. I enjoyed it immensely.

Aptly Titled

[gftbiloxi · 2/10 · 22 October 2005]

The 1945 Val Lewton ISLE OF THE DEAD is, regrettably, aptly titled: the film itself is a dead, awkward thing and largely devoid of the style that made such Lewton films as CAT PEOPLE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, and THE BODY SNATCHER so memorable.

The story concerns a 19th century Greek military commander (Karloff) who visits his wife's grave, located on an island described as a cemetery. But plague breaks out--and in order to prevent its spread the commander quarantines the island. Even as various residents fall ill and die, others attribute the deaths to a Greek-style vampire; to further complicate the story a premature burial leaves the prematurely buried considerably annoyed, to say the least.

The basic problem here is the script, credited to Josef Mishel and Ardel Wray: the dialogue is incredibly awkward and the overall story is at best vague, at worst incomprehensible. Karloff, having just given the performance of his career in the earlier THE BODY SNATCHER, now gives what may be his weakest performance of the 1940s with this film--and frankly he looks incredibly ridiculous with curly hair. But Karloff is not alone: the entire cast is truly at sea, their performances clashing at every possible stylistic level, and director Mark Robson is unable to chart any direction that might give these issues any interest.

Lewton was greatly admired for his skill in turning low budgets into memorable horror films with unexpected poet flourishes; he was, without doubt, one of the few genius producers of the 20th century. But ISLE OF THE DEAD does him no credit. Although it will be a must-see for Lewton and Karloff fans, they will be tremendously disappointed--and all others are warned off.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer