The film stars Charles Laughton [who won an Oscar the following year for The Private Life of Henry VIII.] and Richard Arlen [who was in the silent film Wings... the first Oscar Best Picture]. Bela Lugosi is on the credit pretty high, but his role is very minor, and he is in costume so you wouldn't know unless told. The film is in my 101 horror movies book, but I didn't find it scary in the least. If this was a modern film you would consider it an adventure/fantasy.
The story is about a man, Edward [Arlen], who is found adrift at sea. The boat that finds him is on their way, with an assortment of animals, to an island not on any map. When Edward sticks up for a servant against the drunken captain he boots him off the ship at the mysterious island. The island belongs to Dr. Moreau [a character with about five films to his credit now, the rest much more recent], a mad scientist who does Frankenstein-like operations on animals making them more human.
Horror movies must have soundtracks, suspenseful music sets the mood, awkward silence unsettles us, but a complete lack of background effects or score make the film dull. This isn't the only reason this film was boring, but it just wasn't that interesting and just a little too fake for me. Sure it is very old, but that isn't exactly why. I'm not sure why this needs to be on any lists, and a 6/10 is very generous.
Vote: 6/10
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024188/
