Isle of the Dead

Boris Karloff legt die Monster-Outfits in den Schrank und schlüpft in die Rolle eines griechischen Generals, den es gemeinsam mit einem amerikanischen Journalisten auf titelgebende Todesinsel verschlägt, die – passenderweise – wegen einer Pestepidemie unter Quarantäne steht. Dort treffen die beiden auf einen Schweizer Archäologen und seine seltsame Entourage – allen voran die geheimnisvolle Haushälterin Madame Kyra, die die Präsenz eines uralten weiblichen Dämons spürt, der im Finsteren lauert. Erst ein beklemmendes Kammerspiel, dann atmosphärische Fantasmagorie: Val Lewton, „Meister der Schatten“, beweist einmal mehr, dass es effektiver ist, das Grauen nur anzudeuten, statt es explizit zu zeigen. Nicht umsonst einer von Martin Scorseses Lieblings-Horrorfilmen. (Florian Widegger)

Between 1942 and 1946, producer Val Lewton, who was born in Crimea in 1904, revolutionised the horror genre with nine groundbreaking films that worked by merely hinting at terror rather than showing it explicitly. Although this restriction was mainly due to financial reasons, the resulting effect was all the greater—and mainly benefitted Lewton’s own aesthetic preferences. Five of these nine films were directed by former Orson Welles assistant and newcomer director Mark Robson, with ISLE OF THE DEAD the penultimate. It was also the first Lewton production to feature Boris Karloff, an actor well known for playing monsters. This time he takes on the role of a Greek general who takes a trip with an American journalist to the titular island of death, which has—appropriately enough—been placed under quarantine due to a plague epidemic. There the duo meet a Swiss archaeologist and his strange entourage—above all the mysterious housekeeper Madame Kyra (Helene Thimig), who senses the presence of an ancient female demon lurking in the darkness… This oppressive chamber play soon morphs into a slice of atmospheric phantasmagoria—it’s not for nothing it remains one of Martin Scorsese’s favourite horror films. (Florian Widegger)

Mark Robson: THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943), THE GHOST SHIP (1943), BEDLAM (1946), TRIAL (1955), PEYTON PLACE (1957), THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS (1958), NINE HOURS TO RAMA (1963), VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1967), EARTHQUAKE (1974)