1932 science fiction funkRating: 16/20
Plot: A ship carrying a menagerie to a mysterious island picks up a shipwrecked nondescript guy. The captain doesn't like him very much and decides to maroon him on the island. And living on the island happens to be Dr. Moreau and the mutant results of his animal experiments. The nondescript guy isn't happy about it and has to wait for his girlfriend to pick him up.
A lot of this is surprisingly very modern for the early 1930s, mostly because of the very realistic make-up for the half-man/half-beast things. They're the real show here--monkey men lurking in the shadows, dudes with missing ears, guys with more back hair than my Uncle Barry. Nic Cage even makes an appearance at the 1:05 mark, his first movie role, I believe. The on-location shooting adds a realism and moodiness. The jungle island (probably not really an uncharted one) looks good. There's a lot about this that dates the movie, too. You've got goofy fisticuffs; any time the characters start punching each other, the film speeds up for some reason. There's also a great scene where an obvious dummy is thrown overboard. There's also some dialogue that is very written ("They're vivisecting a man!") but the acting doesn't have that over-the-top stagy feel at all. Charles Laughton is really good as Moreau, but he really didn't even need to be all that good with that facial hair. I also like the fact that every guy in the film (except the monkey men, of course) are wearing white suits. One thing really interesting about this was the complete lack of music. I almost always like it when movies don't have music. It usually adds to the tension and realism, I think. Here, however, I thought there were some moments that just seemed weird sans score. It was strange to see a movie without a score from this time period. Did it happen often? Overall, this is a great adaptation of a classic novel, realistically tense, quickly paced, and mysteriously entertaining. Or entertainingly mysterious?
A Cory recommendation.
At times it does have a difficulty hiding it's 1932 roots, but along with "Freaks", I think it is one of the great early horror films. "Are we not men?" and "one of us, one of us" go hand-in-hand. I think Laughton is amazing and the ending is very shocking. A 19 for me. As always, I'm happy when you like these, and the horror replacement is 1979's "Time After Time".
ReplyDeleteI watched the great "Monsieur Verdoux", and will comment when we get back from dinner.