Now Playing: JAN. 5, 1933

Nowadays, one of the first releases of a new year is usually a horror movie. So it was in Milwaukee in January 1933.

 

Here's a local review of the movie.

I should note that, contrary to the first ad, there are no wolf women on the island of Dr. Moreau, but that's ballyhoo for you. Island of Lost Souls was recently canonized through its inclusion in the Criterion Collection, and it's one of the films from the golden age of horror that retains its power to give people the creeps. Those that do generally tap into our anxiety about the existence or proximity of subhumans -- think of Freaks or White Zombie, for instance. There's something about the idea that Pre-Code gets right that makes these films more disturbing, maybe in a subtle way, than more modern horrors with more sophisticated makeups and effects. Remakes of the Moreau story, at least, haven't topped Island.

More tomorrow!