Charles Laughton, whose next film (The Private Life of Henry VIII) would earn him a Best Actor Oscar, is pure purring menace as Dr. Moreau.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 14, 2024

Shot almost entirely within the studio, from ships in misty water tanks to a densely-fabricated jungle, it suggests the primitive and the perverse, a feral world as claustrophobic as it is intimidating.

| Oct 9, 2022

If The Island of Lost Souls is also a little too silly for words, i.e., if it fails to achieve anything but "horror," that is something against which you should be warned.

| Oct 8, 2020

What it presents is more ugly and revolting than horrifying.

| Oct 8, 2020

It has the appalling, monstrous quality of a nightmare.

| Oct 8, 2020

The uprising of beast-men will bring you out of your seat.

| Oct 8, 2020

Everyone expected a sterling performance from Charles Laughton, but again he proves that he has something fresh to give each film.

| Oct 8, 2020

Laughton's performance is a grand piece of work, as usual.

| Oct 8, 2020

Tho screen version ls too sketchy adequately to convey the scientific scope of Wells' work, with the result that, apart from the characterisation, the picture has little moaning, and at times becomes repulsive.

| Oct 8, 2020

Perhaps the better atmosphere is due to the acting of Charles Laughton.

| Oct 8, 2020

One of the most unusual and thrilling stories yet screened in Brisbane.

| Oct 8, 2020

The first, and best, version of HG Wells's provocative fantasy The Island of Dr Moreau is one of the best chillers ever made.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 8, 2020

I objected to The Island of Lost Souls merely because it was dull, and, too, because of a gruesome conclusion in an operating room.

| Jun 5, 2019

The foreboding set piece complements the horrific story wonderfully, while Charles Laughton is genuinely sinister.

| Feb 28, 2019

The lead character is sadly generic as hell, but thankfully everything that goes on around him is interesting and well shot. Highly recommended.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 7, 2019

All in all, Island of Lost Souls works on every level; it rattles your nerves while you're watching it, and it haunts your dreams after it's over.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 28, 2016

There's something legitimately sick and cold about it, a chill sweat of jungle malaria.

| Original Score: A+ | Oct 19, 2015

Wells' beastly allegorical satire, mounted by Erle C. Kenton as a pre-Code scald of the lunacy of colonial dominion

| Oct 8, 2015

Kenton's best horror film.

| Original Score: A | Sep 29, 2015

A tight, gruesome shocker, featuring Karl Struss's spooky cinematography and Charles Laughton's creepy portrayal of the mad vivisector Dr. Moreau ...

| Feb 16, 2015