VOODOO ISLAND

 

VOODOO ISLAND is one of Boris Karloff's lesser onscreen moments. It's a 1957 low-budget black & white tale dealing with supernatural events taking place in the Pacific South Seas. (Due to its title, the film should have been set in the Caribbean or near Africa.) 

The island of the title is owned by a wealthy businessman named Carlton, who wishes to build an exclusive resort there. Four men under the employ of Carlton are sent out to the island to scout the location, but only one comes back--and that man is now literally a zombie. Carlton hires professional debunker Phillip Knight (Boris Karloff) to go out to the island with a new team to find out what is really going on at the place. Knight is convinced that all the strange happenings concerning the island can be explained, but, as most people in these types of movies invariably realize, there's more in heaven & earth than he can dream of. 

VOODOO ISLAND is a very mediocre mix of jungle terrors and voodoo antics. The movie is already half over by the time Karloff and his companions arrive at the title spot, and, due to the Hawaiian filming locations, the place looks more like a sunny camping area instead of a cursed isle. The story is filled with one-note characters who are constantly bickering with one another, and all the inexplicable incidents that happen seem random and contrived. 

The island in question is also filled with carnivorous plants, but these "monsters" resemble inflatable rubber toys. The movie doesn't so much end as it peters out, with all the supernatural elements left hanging in the air. 

Boris Karloff doesn't have much to work with, but I'm sure that he enjoyed his time in Hawaii. This is one of the very few times Karloff played a character in a contemporary film who wasn't a threat or a menace, and it's unusual to see Boris in regular everyday clothes. The supporting cast includes Elisha Cook Jr. as an island trading post owner who thinks the resort will make him some money, and Rhodes Reason as a tough-guy boat captain. Adam West has a very small part. 

VOODOO ISLAND was directed by journeyman Reginald Le Borg. During his career Le Borg directed the likes of Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, and Vincent Price, but I've always found his films flat and pedestrian. This film is no different--the pace drags and the supernatural occurrences are not handled in an effective manner. The producers of the film, Howard Koch and Aubrey Schenck, would work with Karloff again in FRANKENSTEIN 1970, a movie that is much more watchable than VOODOO ISLAND. 

Seeing Boris Karloff in a "normal", non-villainous role is about the only reason to watch VOODOO ISLAND.