ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945, USA, 71m, 12) ***½
Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
dist. RKO Radio Pictures; pr co. RKO Radio Pictures; d. Mark Robson; w. Ardel Wray; pr. Val Lewton; ph. Jack MacKenzie (B&W | 1.37:1); m. Leigh Harline; ed. Lyle Boyer; ad. Albert S. D’Agostino, Walter E. Keller.
cast: Boris Karloff (Gen. Nikolas Pherides), Ellen Drew (Thea), Marc Cramer (Oliver Davis), Katherine Emery (Mrs. Mary St. Aubyn), Helene Thimig (Madame Kyra), Alan Napier (St. Aubyn), Jason Robards Sr. (Albrecht), Ernst Deutsch (Dr. Drossos), Sherry Hall (Col. Kobestes (uncredited)), Skelton Knaggs (Andrew Robbins (uncredited)).
An impressively chilling Val Lewton production sees army general Karloff take leave from the 1912 Balkan War to visit a small island in Greece, where his wife is buried. While there, a plague breaks out — and Karloff, along with an American reporter Cramer and several other travellers, is forced to stay when quarantine is declared. Soon, the group succumb to the influence of Thimig, who accuses Nurse Drew of being a vampire and the true cause of the recent deaths. The story takes its time to develop but delivers a spooky final act. Karloff is impressive as ever as the tortured soldier and Mackenzie’s shadowy photography adds significantly to the doom-laden atmosphere.
