Review(s): DVD Voodoo Island/The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (Midnite Movies Double Feature)
Voodoo-Do-Do Voodaa-Da-Da...
As much as I love Boris Karloff, VOODOO ISLAND is a complete dog-log of a movie! Boris plays a TV host who debunks all things supernatural. He's hired by a zillionaire hotel magnate to go to an island and find out what happened to four men who went there. Only one of them returned, and he's zombified! So, Boris and five others set out for VOODOO ISLAND in the south pacific (!). Sounds like a terrific set-up right? Forget it! Our adventurers spend fully half of the movie's running time just trying to get to the island! Along the way, they meet a young Adam "Batman" West as a radio operator. Finally, they arrive on the island, where they spend loads of time talking and wandering around. A few man-eating plants attack, including some aquatic flora that reminded me of the ridiculous monsters in ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES. Nope, Boris can't save this one! One cool scene shows a little girl being eaten by a plant monster. Alas, this is the only such scene. THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE is actually pretty good. The Drake family men have been dying at age 60 ever since an ancestor slaughtered a tribe in south america. Jonathan's brother has just died, winding up as a headless corpse! Now Jonathan knows he is next on the list. Enter Dr. Zurich (Henry "The Body Snatcher" Daniell) as the local anthropologist / voodoo witchdoctor, bent on shrinking Jonathon's head down to the size of grapefruit! His head-hunting servant is a highlight, with his mouth sewn shut and shoes made of human skin! FOUR SKULLS is a frightful fiesta for the fear freak! It is worth the price of this double feature...
The Power Of Voodoo
Who will escape from Voodoo Island? If the maneating plants don't kill them first, the boredom will. Yes, Voodoo Island is rather dull. I certainly don't set my standards too high when dealing with old B pictures, but a B film director has accomplished something rather rare when he makes a schlock picture that's not even mildly amusing. The film has a pretty short running time, and our cast doesn't even get to the island till about 40-45 minutes through the film. Alot of dilly-dallying up to that point. Karloff gives a good performance as a skeptic who likes to debunk superstitious theories, but he really can't even save this film. The natives on this island are about as threatening as the three stooges, and you don't see hardly enough of the maneating plants which are the only interesting thing in the film. It's very anticlimatic as well. Don't read any further if you honestly want to keep the ending of Voodoo Island a surprise. The civilization on this island purposely turned it's back on the rest of the world and wants to keep the island and it's people a secret. Is there a big showdown between Karloff and the chief? No. Karloff says, "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone" and the chief says, "Oh, alright, you can all go". That's the end to the terror and menace of Voodoo Island.
The Four Skins Of Jonathan Drake is naturally the better film of the two. It concerns a curse killing off the men of the Drake family, and the last man, Jonathan's attempts to stop it. The witchdoctor(a native Indian's body with a white man's head) and his assistant(a guy who looks like he tried to swallow a sneaker and has the laces hanging out of his mouth) try to get their hands on the slippery Jonathan Drake. Lots of cool shrunken heads in this one. A decent film, that's where the three stars go. I don't know if it's just my dvd, but there were a few glitches on the Voodoo Island side of the disc. Lots of skipping, as though you hit the FF button on your remote at the lowest setting. Maybe I just got ahold of a bad copy, but there are no scratches on the disc. Buy with caution.
A Psychotroic Double Bill!
Once upon a time, way back in the years B.C. (before cable), television stations used to run old horror movies on Saturday nights under the name "Chiller Theater." Yeah, they were "B" movies, but we as children found them scary and fascinating. Now these films find themselves an endangered species. Stations simply don't run them anymore, even in this age of cable where we supposedly get to choose from 100 plus channels. What we're not told is that the broadcast stations dropped late night old movies in favor of the infomercial, which means that the only refuge for old time psychotronic fans is the DVD.
MGM has done all us fans a favor by releasing "Voodoo Island" and The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake" as a double feature. These two favorite films from the "Chiller" days have fallen into oblivion and it is nice to see them resurrected in DVD format. Granted, these are not lost classics in ant sense except the psychotronic, but they are worth the time of any horror film buff.
The first film, "Voodoo Island," has Boris Karloff in fine form as a scientific investigator called in by wealthy industrialist Elisha Cook, Jr. to examine strange happenings on a Pacific Island. So far, so good, but Boris soon discovers a voodoo cult (in the Pacific, no less) with some man-eating plants thrown in for good measure. The plot breaks down shortly after this discovery as the explorers use that old time-tested blueprint to get them all killed - Let's Split Up.
Produced by Howard W. Koch of "Airplane" fame, "Voodoo Island" looks like it's off the coast of New Jersey rather than in the Pacific. Still, Boris and Elisha maintain their dignity throughout, helped by a fine performance from Beverly Tyler.
"The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake" concerns on Jonathan Drake (Eduard Franz), who while attending his brother's funeral in South America, is shocked to find his decreased brother is missing his head, which later turns up in the family vault as a skull. Turns out it's part of a curse placed on the Drake family for their role in a massacre of Amazon natives. All the Drake men die of shock at age 60 and lose their heads.
Henry Daniell steals the picture as Dr. Zurich, who is the bad guy behind the Drake misfortune. Daniell has a grand time chewing up whatever scenery comes his way and is great fun to watch. Also look for noted English character actor Paul Cavanagh ("Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear," "The Scarlet Claw") in his last film as Jonathan's brother, Kenneth.
Directed by Edward L. Cahn, whose credits include "Invisible Invaders," "Invasion of the Saucer Men," and the classic, "Creature With the Atom Brain.")
Excellent transfer, two great psychotronic classics, and Boris Karloff and Henry Daniell: What more could a film fan want?
Related DVD's Voodoo Island/The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (Midnite Movies Double Feature)
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