Directed by Erle C. Kenton • 1932 • United States
Starring Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams
A twisted treasure from Hollywood’s pre-Code horror heyday, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS is a cautionary tale of science run amok, adapted from H. G. Wells’s novel “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” In one of his first major movie roles, Charles Laughton is a mad doctor conducting ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked man (Richard Arlen) who finds himself trapped there. This touchstone of movie terror, directed by Erle C. Kenton, features expressionistic photography by Karl Struss, groundbreaking makeup effects that have inspired generations of monster-movie artists, and the legendary Bela Lugosi in one of his most gruesome roles.
Up Next in Classic Hollywood
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Panic in the Streets
Directed by Elia Kazan • 1950 • United States
Starring Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel GeddesOne night in the New Orleans slums, vicious hoodlum Blackie (Jack Palance, in his film debut) and his friends kill an undocumented immigrant who won too much in a card game. When Dr. Clint Re...
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Blood and Sand
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian • 1941 • United States
Starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita HayworthGorgeous, Academy Award–winning Technicolor cinematography (with a palette inspired by the Spanish painters El Greco, Goya, and Velázquez) adorns this torrid tale of lust and bullfighting. A d...
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Detour
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer • 1945 • United States
Starring Tom Neal, Ann SavageFrom Poverty Row came a movie that, perhaps more than any other, epitomizes the dark fatalism at the heart of film noir. As he hitchhikes his way from New York to Los Angeles, a down-on-his-luck nightclub pianist ...
