The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)


1977 was a strange year for movies.  On one hand, there was Star Wars, which along with Jaws a couple years earlier helped pave the way for the movies of the 1980s and beyond.  There was also Smokey and the Bandit which, if it wasn't for Star Wars, would have been the biggest hit of the year.  Although it is of its time it is still considered a classic comedy.

Then there were films like The Island of Dr. Moreau.  Despite a number of great horror and exploitation films floating on cinematic fringes many of the big-budget films had not changed much since the late 1960s other than one was more likely to see some nudity here and there.  While something like Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger is still lots of fun in a throwback kind of way many movies were more like The Island of Dr. Moreau, one of a number of H. G. Wells adaptations from American International Pictures in the mid-1970s and, while it is nowhere near as good as Island of Lost Souls, one of the better ones.

Andrew Braddock (Michael York) is one of the few survivors of a shipwreck.  His lifeboat happens upon an island in the South Pacific and, while his fellows don't make it, he is restored to health by Montgomery (Nigel Davenport) and the island's owner, Dr. Paul Moreau (Burt Lancaster).  There is also a woman named Maria (Barbara Carrera) with whom Braddock soon becomes enamored.

What Braddock soon learns, however, is that besides being a brilliant scientist Moreau is also quite mad, experimenting on turning animals into near-human creatures.  The problem is, no matter what he does, they regress back to their savage state after a period of time.  In order to solve the problem Moreau decides that he needs a human to change into an animal and finds Braddock to be the perfect specimen.  Meanwhile, the creatures that Moreau have created begin to resent what has been done to him and begin to plot against their creator. 

AIP is not known for throwing a ton of money at a film but, in this case, they did a great job with the makeup.  Richard Basehart plays the Sayer of the Law and, as he has more speaking roles than many of them, has the best realized prosthetics, but the Bullman (Bob Ozman) is probably the most striking.  Many of the extras were also stuntmen as the finale has them interacting with, and being attacked by, various real animals such as lions and tigers.  Director Don Taylor and the producers of this didn't go the cheap and safe route of filming the scenes separately.

Michael York does a decent job, giving it his all during the scenes where he is tortured by Moreau.  Burt Lancaster also isn't bad in the title role, although he is nowhere near as memorable as Charles Laughton was in the original.  This was filmed in the U.S. Virgin Islands so it does have a more authentic feel, but it also feels like AIP was hoping to sell it just on the idea of the creatures rather than the story.  I recall a series of action figures for the movie so it is obvious they were hoping for a major success, but there is no way this could be expected to stand up to a juggernaut such as Star Wars, since this felt more like an old Hammer film than something modern. 

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)
Time: 99 minutes
Starring: Michael York, Burt Lancaster, Barbara Carrera, Nigel Davenport, Richard Basehart
Director: Don Taylor

 

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