My most recent acquisition is the Criterion Edition Blu-ray of the classic horror/SF film,Island Of Lost Souls, adapted from the H.G. Wells classic novel The Island of Dr Moreau.

The novel has been adapted to the silver screen three times, most recently 1996 starring Val Kilmer and Marlon Brandon,  in 1977 with Michael York and Burt Lancaster, and this, the first time, 1932 under the title Island of Lost Souls.  After Universal’s staggering successes with Frankenstein and Dracula, and MGM’s profitable Freaks,Paramountwanted in on the horror market. They had limited success with Murders in the Rue Morgue, which played obliquely at the taboo or human/animal breeding. After acquiring the right to The Island of Dr. Moreau for $15,000Paramountplanned something wells had not imagined, a sexy, titillating horror film. Continue reading →