Review of Island of Terror

Island of Terror is decent British horror capable of providing its audience with some genuine frights despite of the wacky premise. It caught my attention especially because it was directed by Terence Fisher and stars Peter Cushing. These two worked together in making the finest films for the Hammer studios, like most entries in the "Frankenstein" series, "The Hound of the Baskervillers" and "The Mummy". Island of Terror is not a Hammer film, yet it often feels like one since the set pieces are so alike and the screenplay uses the same proportions of wit British humor and severe shocks. The story takes place at a small Northern Ireland island where the local doctor has a bizarre case of a boneless corpse on his hands. He travels over to the mainland to recruit eminent scientists Brian Stanley (Cushing) and David West (Edward Judd) for helping him with this matter. Back at the island, they discover that the horror is caused by monsters that were the result of failing medical research by another scientist. The monsters look like crossovers between tortoises and elephants, feeding on bones while leaving the flesh untouched. If that's not bad enough, the creatures reproduce themselves and they're slowly moving towards the island community…Terence Fisher makes great use of the isolated island location and the feeling of being completely trapped perfectly reflects on the screen. The story doesn't waste too much time and features more than enough action and fright-highlights to please the most demanding horror fan. The monster designs are surprisingly convincing and also the special effects are praiseworthy. The few shots of extorted corpses are efficiently icky and very well pictured. As the plot becomes more intense, Fisher terrifically adds sequences of hysterical villagers. A small but outstanding little detail. Veteran horror star Peter Cushing certainly doesn't give away his finest acting performance here, but he's always worth admiring even though he's outshined by Judd and the female love-interest, played by a gorgeous looking Carole Gray. Island of Terror isn't top class horror, at least not compared to some other films around that time, but it contains enough imagination and style to pass for excellent, undemanding entertainment. I wonder why the idea of bone-sucking creatures (cool name: Silicates) isn't used more in horror/science fiction epics.