Voodoo Island (1957)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

Reginald Le Borg

Writer:

Richard H. Landau (writer)

Release Date:

February 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

SEE! Men Turned Into Zombies! SEE! Woman-Eating Cobra Plants! SEE! Strange Voodoo Rituals! SEE! The Bridge Of Death!

Plot:

A wealthy industrialist hires the renowned hoax-buster Phillip Knight to prove that an island he plans to develop isn't voodoo cursed...

Plot Keywords:

Island | Voodoo | Native | Man Eating Plant | Zombie

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Phillip Knight
Beverly Tyler	...	Sarah Adams
Murvyn Vye	...	Barney Finch
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Martin Schuyler (as Elisha Cook)
Rhodes Reason	...	Matthew Gunn
Jean Engstrom	...	Claire Winter
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Native Chief (as Frederich Ledebur)
Glenn Dixon	...	Mitchell
Owen Cunningham	...	Howard Carlton
Herbert Patterson	...	Dr. Wilding
Jerry Frank	...	Vickers

Also Known As:

Silent Death (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #18395)

Filming Locations:

Kaua`i, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Aubrey Schenck Productions

Trivia:

Although set in the South Pacific, the film was actually filmed on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

Quotes:

Claire Winter: I'd give a lot just for a shower and some clean clothes. And a double martini!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Head Case (#3.15)" (2006)

This Voo Doo is Deep Doo Doo

This one must have been done for the nice Hawaiian vacation the cast got on Kauai. There couldn't be any other possible reason.

After one man comes back from an expedition to a Pacific island in a cataleptic state, a whole expedition is sent to prove there ain't no voodoo being practiced on that island where some developer wants to put up a big resort.

Boris Karloff heads our intrepid expedition that consists of Rex Reason, Beverly Tyler, Jean Engstrom, Murvyn Vye and Elisha Cook, Jr. Our men and women encounter zombies, carnivorous plants, and voodoo practicing natives. All of which is supposed to scare the audience.

Since it was Hawaii, the least they could have done was spring for color. The special effects were riotously funny.

The film was selected for the gay cinema salute of TCM this month and I will say that the lascivious looks that Jean Engstrom gives Beverly Tyler plus the way she put down Rex Reason when he tried to make a pass at her was pretty good. I agree with the TCM guest programmer who said that the juveniles who saw this in the drive-ins in 1957 got their first exposure to lesbianism.

But it sure could have been in a better film. Voodoo Island has the distinct aroma of tax write-off.