Island of Terror (1966)

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Edward Mann (writer)
Al Ramsen (writer)

Release Date:

February 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

How could they stop the devouring death...that lived by sucking on living human bones!

Plot:

An isolated remote island community is threatened by an attack by tentacled silicates which liquefy and digest bone and tissue.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Bone | Creature | Monster | Isolated Community

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Brian Stanley
Edward Judd	...	Dr. David West
Carole Gray	...	Toni Merrill
Eddie Byrne	...	Dr. Reginald Landers
Sam Kydd	...	Constable John Harris
Niall MacGinnis	...	Roger Campbell
James Caffrey	...	Peter Argyle
Liam Gaffney	...	Ian Bellows
Roger Heathcote	...	Dunley
Keith Bell	...	Halsey
Shay Gorman	...	Morton
Peter Forbes-Robertson	...	Dr. Lawrence Phillips
Richard Bidlake	...	Carson
Joyce Hemson	...	Mrs. Bellows
Edward Ogden	...	Helicopter Pilot

Also Known As:

Night of the Silicates
The Creepers
The Night the Creatures Came
The Night the Silicates Came

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | UK:X (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #21295)

Filming Locations:

Black Park Country Park, Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Planet Film Productions

Trivia:

In the French version (post-synchronized) Edward Judd is dubbed by Jean-Claude Michel / Visa d'exploitation en France : #38125

Goofs:

Continuity: After Dr. Landers is killed, his corpse mysteriously vanishes.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Peter Argyle: Is that all, then, Ian?
Ian Bellows: I think so. And how long will it take to fill the order, then, this time, eh?
Peter Argyle: Oh, probably three to four weeks.
Ian Bellows: Y'know, they ought to give us better service, and a boat coming once a week is not enough! You'd think at least they'd get our telephones installed.
Peter Argyle: Y'know, they promised 'em this year.
Ian Bellows: Aye, and last!

Great!

Island of Terror is a great little flick produced by Richard Gordon who also gave us the cult favourite "Fiend Without a Face". Directed with the expertise Hammer director Terence Fisher offers, Gordon has produced a similarly obscure "herd" of creatures to terrorize a high-class cast. The 'Silicates' looks rather silly, like huge turtles with a trunk instead of a head with which they grab their victims, and moves around with the speed of a snail. Like zombies, they are not really a threat when spotted coming, but make up for it with their ability to be anywhere you least expect them. (like up in trees, waiting for passers-by, or underneath cars waiting for someone to enter it). This does get a bit, if not more than a bit, corny, but the ever deadly presence of these creatures, and the nasty way of killing (dissolving the bones, and sucking them out of the body) keeps the fun-bad aspect at bay. There are some great attack sequences at different cast members, and some disgusting slurping when they are "devoured".

The cast is in top form with Cushing in particular giving us a delightful turn as the pathologist with a welcome streak of gentle humour. It's a role that only Cushing could play with this amount of laid back ease and he is a joy to watch. Edward Judd is nicely stoic and handles his scenes with Cushing well, showing he was a much underused actor. Carole Grays character is the only weak link, as she is strictly the cliché woman in peril sort who is given little to do. Thankfully her love interest scenes with Judd are few and short.

The island atmosphere is captured well and Fisher makes what would normally be a tranquil setting a place of lurking menace. He also takes the viewer by surprise with his treatment of some of the characters, never letting his audience get too complacent in the expectations.

Add to all this a lean and never wasted running time, a suitably manic and funky soundtrack composition plus a typically cynical '60s epilogue and you have a film that should be much more widely known and available.