The Forgotten Island

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)

Bookended by a beloved classic and a notorious flop, 1977’s The Island of Dr. Moreau is often forgotten by science fiction fans despite being a decent adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel of the same name. 1932’s Island of Lost Souls has become an influential classic despite being disliked by Wells. 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau starring Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando was plagued with production issues and in-fighting between cast and crew that damaged the film on many levels. Its chaotic production has become infamous in cinema history.

When the 1977 feature was released, it featured a solid cast including Burt Lancaster, Michael York, Barbara Carrera, and Nigel Davenport, and, at least in my opinion, some pretty good makeup and special effects for the time. It tells the story of Braddock (York), a shipwrecked engineer who ends up on a mysterious island and is restored to health by Dr. Moreau (Lancaster), his warden named Montgomery (Davenport), and a beautiful young woman named Maria (Carrera). In time Braddock learns that Dr. Moreau is doing genetic experiments on animals, creating beings that look and act somewhat human. Braddock eventually comes into contact with a number of the beings that live outside of its walls.

The creatures are guided by the Sayer of the Law (Richard Basehart) who repeatedly recites the three laws taught to him by Moreau. Those laws are 1) No Walking On All Fours, 2) No Eating Of Flesh and 3) No Taking Of Life. Despite knowing the laws, many of the creatures find it hard to resist their natural animalistic instincts and a couple of them give in to their desires. One of them attacks Braddock and is sent to Moreau’s house of pain for treatment. The other one, Bull-Man (Bob Ozman), attacks and kills a tiger. Moreau attempts to have him brought in for treatment, but Bull-Man escapes and is wounded. When Braddock catches up to him, Bull-Man asks Braddock to kill him, ending his miserable existence. Braddock complies and sends the rest of the creatures into a frenzy.

Braddock attempts to escape the island with Maria but is captured by Moreau. Moreau injects him with genetic material that begins to turn Braddock into an animal. Attempting to resist his newfound instincts, Braddock and Maria manage to break free of Moreau’s house of pain and Moreau kills Montgomery whenever the warden stands up to him for injecting Braddock. Chaos ensues and the creatures go on a rampage throughout the compound. Does Moreau pay for breaking his own laws? Do Braddock and Maria escape? What happens to the creatures? You’ll have to watch the film in order to find out!

With its impressive cast, decent story, and solid effects, you’d think that Moreau would have performed better at the box office. Sadly, the film managed to come out the same year that a certain other little science fiction/fantasy film was released: Star Wars IV: A New Hope. Star Wars dominated the box office for the rest of the year following its May release, and only a few other science fiction and horror films managed to grab a decent amount of attention that year including The Deep and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Couple those films with the fact that there were a ton of other successful films in 1977 including Saturday Night Fever, Smokey and the Bandit, and A Bridge Too Far, and you quickly realize why a middling science fiction flick set on an island might fall between the cracks.

That being said, the film is definitely worth a look. The makeup is always knocked for looking cheap and is often compared to the Planet of the Apes films since Moreau‘s director, Don Taylor, previously directed 1971’s Escape From The Planet of the Apes but I actually like the makeup in the film. The music by Laurence Rosenthal isn’t bad, but it’s not that impressive, either. The cast is solid and the story is interesting but it does move at a somewhat slow pace. All in all, this is a nice flick to check out on a rainy day.

If there are any other forgotten films out there that you’d like me to visit on this page, let me know in the comments. I really enjoy The Island of Dr. Moreau despite its many flaws. Also, my brother had a book about the film that featured numerous photographs of the creatures on the island. As a young kid, the images in the book frightened me and it’s one of my earliest memories of being scared. I guess that means that I have a soft spot in my heart for this film.

Thanks for reading my post. I hope to have a Classic Horror or Throwback Thursday post for you all real soon and if things go according to plan, I’ll be posting an extra special Outpost article this Sunday!