Absolutely the worst movie.

A Masterpiece!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I first saw this on a vhs in the late 90s. Revisited it few days back on a blu ray. God bless Criterion Collection. This is the first n the best version of H.G. Wells novel The Island Of Dr Moreau with an amazing cast n splendid performances. This is indeed one of the best horror films of its era. Many may find it a bit slower now because of the romantic sub plot. In this movie, appearance wise, Charles Laughton looked n behaved like Hitler with his moustache n dictatorial ways but his deeds were more like Josef Mengele when it came to human experiments. I had always wanted to play football with Joseph Mengele's head. Charles Laughton was a terrific actor. In this movie he looked a bit comical with his goatee, helmet and whip but his acting was amazing. His mannerisms n facial expressions were top notch. Bela Lugosi's performance was also very good but a bit too small n his face hidden with lots of wolf like hair.

The castaway Edward Parker (Richard Arlen) is rescued by a cargo ship that is transporting Mr. Montgomery (Arthur Hohl) and animals to the notorious scientist Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton), who lives in an isolated tiny island in the South Seas. Edwad sends a message to his fiancée Ruth Thomas (Leila Hyams) informing that he is safe and sound and will meet her at Apia. However he has an argument with Captain Davies (Stanley Fields) that tosses him overboard on Dr. Moreau's vessel. The scientist welcomes Edward in his island and offers to transport him on the next day to Apia. Edward sees strange natives and is introduced to the beautiful native Latta (Kathleen Burke). They hear screams from a room called the house of pain by Lotta where Edward sees Dr. Moreau and Montgomery operating a person without anesthetic. But later Montgomery gives a justification to Edward that does not know that Dr. Moreau is performing experiences with animals turning them into people. Further, Dr. Moreau decides to keep Edward in the island since Lolla, who is indeed a panther, is developing human emotions. What will happen to Edward?"Island of Lost Souls" is the original version of H. G. Wells' novel "The Island of Dr. Moreau" to the cinema. The polemic story of an obsessed scientist that decides to play God raised many problems to the producers in UK with the censorship because of the vivisection scenes. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Ilha das Almas Selvagens" ("The Island of the Wild Souls")

I genuinely enjoyed this film, and actually found it downright creepy at times. This did what I wanted Frankenstein to be, a creepy yet human experience, as timeless as any tale... told right. I enjoy taking the trip along side of our protagonist, finding out the secrets along with him, and questioning what it means to be human along the way. The antagonist was relatable, leaving us with a dilemma of right and wrong, a line nicely blurred (until the near end it becomes pretty clear sadly). This film has really held up nicely, and does not have any obvious signs of its age, I would've thought it was 12 years newer! If you're a fan of this genre and era, and bothering enough to look at reviews, it's well worth watching!

Charles Laughton is the original Dr. Moreau, the mad scientist who turns wild beasts into something resembling human beings but still containing their animalistic natures. it is up to new arrival Richard Arlen to stop him, messing around with nature in a way no man should have the power to do such. While Arlen is in love with the pretty Leila Hyams, he becomes the target of Panther woman Kathleen Burke. sultry and beautiful, Burke obviously wants to make Arlen her mate, but even in human form she is very catlike and becomes obsessively jealous of Hyams.Then there is Bela Lugosi, playing a small but consequential role as the wise speaker who stands up against Laughton for messing around with nature and obviously offending God. Unrecognizable under a beard covered face, Lugosi gives a sense of his performance that is touching yes field with anger for what Lawton has done to alter their appearances.the tension builds into a horrific finale where time is of the essence for Arlen to get off the island + 4 the transformed animals to finally get their vengeance against Lawton in the most excruciatingly painful way.One of the great science fiction films of the golden age of Hollywood, Island of Lost souls has been remade several times unsuccessfully. The 1977 version attempted to play it straight, but came off as very dated. even the presence of Burt Lancaster of Dr. Moreau couldn't save it from failure. be even worse we make in the 1990s with Marlon Brando as Dr. Moreau is considered a disaster in every sense of the word. it resembles a cartoon more than a reflection of its original HG Wells story, and it is obvious to me that the story needs to be left alone. Obviously, Hollywood knew how to make these types of films in the 1930s but they appear majorly dated or melodramatic when recreated today.An excellent performance by Charles Laughton in the very same year he won an Oscar for playing Henry the 8this a strong leading character and certainly much more memorable then the unfortunate remix with Lancaster and Brando. Latin could be happy but here, he tones it down when he needs to and brings it up for the more complex moments of his character development. As for Kathleen Burke, she makes a lovely sight as the Panther woman, even wearing Panther's skin as human clothing. barely saying a word, Burke makes the feline aspects of her character obvious, doing more with less then the actors who played this part in the remakes.