Fog Island

Rating:
Summary: Creepy!!
Review: Based on the play "Angel Island" by Bernadine Angus, Fog Island is an interesting but somewhat problematic suspense thriller from 1945. Leo Grainer (George Zucco) has retreated to the isolated confines of the aptly named Fog Island after being released from prison. As the movie begins, he is accompanied by his step-daughter Gail (played by the lovely Sharon Douglas), whose mother was murdered during Grainer's time in jail. Grainer blames five of his former partners and employees for framing him for embezzlement and then killing his wife in an attempt to find the loot they are sure Grainer has hidden somewhere. He now invites these individuals to the island, convinced they will come in hopes of finding the loot they still seek, but Grainer is not planning on showing his guests a delightful time. These guests include three men, his former secretary, and a female psychic; in place of one invitee is the deceased man's son who comes mainly to renew his acquaintance with Gail. Grainer provides each guest with a clue to what they suppose to be the loot, and a night of sneaking around, mutual spying, arguing, distrust, and malice ensues. I had trouble following the story at a few points; a great deal of the action takes place in the dark, and the print of the movie is so bad that I often had trouble seeing what was going on. I am happy to say that I was not let down by the ending, although things did not go quite the way I had expected. There is really nothing frightening here, but the movie does generate a decent level of suspense; your mind will be engaged throughout just trying to figure out what the heck is really going on. Lionel Atwill and George Zucco are familiar names to fans of classic horror of the 30s and 40s, and their contribution, combined with Sharon Douglas' obvious appeal, do much to make Fog Island an enjoyable viewing experience still today.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoy a most interesting night on Fog Island
Review: Based on the play "Angel Island" by Bernadine Angus, Fog Island is an interesting but somewhat problematic suspense thriller from 1945. Leo Grainer (George Zucco) has retreated to the isolated confines of the aptly named Fog Island after being released from prison. As the movie begins, he is accompanied by his step-daughter Gail (played by the lovely Sharon Douglas), whose mother was murdered during Grainer's time in jail. Grainer blames five of his former partners and employees for framing him for embezzlement and then killing his wife in an attempt to find the loot they are sure Grainer has hidden somewhere. He now invites these individuals to the island, convinced they will come in hopes of finding the loot they still seek, but Grainer is not planning on showing his guests a delightful time. These guests include three men, his former secretary, and a female psychic; in place of one invitee is the deceased man's son who comes mainly to renew his acquaintance with Gail. Grainer provides each guest with a clue to what they suppose to be the loot, and a night of sneaking around, mutual spying, arguing, distrust, and malice ensues. I had trouble following the story at a few points; a great deal of the action takes place in the dark, and the print of the movie is so bad that I often had trouble seeing what was going on. I am happy to say that I was not let down by the ending, although things did not go quite the way I had expected. There is really nothing frightening here, but the movie does generate a decent level of suspense; your mind will be engaged throughout just trying to figure out what the heck is really going on. Lionel Atwill and George Zucco are familiar names to fans of classic horror of the 30s and 40s, and their contribution, combined with Sharon Douglas' obvious appeal, do much to make Fog Island an enjoyable viewing experience still today.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start. Wild finish.
Review: Leering butlers. Eyes in the window. Secret passageways. And yes...fog all around...A group of people are invited to a remote Florida island by the owner, Leo Grainger. He wants to punish the person responsible for murdering his wife. At the spooky mansion, with it's booby traps and hidden skeletons, the visitors are killed off one-by-one....A direct remake of 1941's "Horror Island", "Fog Island" is PRCs low-budget version of "10 Little Indians". Fans of horror-film stars George Zucco and Lionel Atwill will relish the over-the-top performances. Zucco and Atwill appeared together in only three films. Lionel Atwill was a Broadway star in the 1920's. Entering movies, he co-starred in Warners' 1935 "Captain Blood". But a messy personal scandal in 1942 left him employable by only Universal Pictures and lowly PRC. Lionel Atwill's climactic scenes in "Fog Island"'s watery finale are almost grisly. Just one year later, Atwill died of cancer and pneumonia while shooting the serial "Lost City of the Jungle". 1945's "Fog Island" also features Hollywood veteran Jerome Cowan. IMDB lists "Fog Island" at 1.37:1 aspect ratio 35mm. But this brand new DVD is closer to a 1.33:1 16mm source. Digital filtering has produced a generally crisp, clean transfer. But the source print contains blotches, clips, and a sub-par soundtrack. ("What did he say?") The DVD has 6 skimpy chapters and a catalog. Movie fans of Zucco and Atwill will take the boat-ride to murky "Fog Island". But for the rest, an enticing title brings very few shocks and frankly, litte interest.

Rating:
Summary: Thumbs up on this one, Alpha Video!
Review: This overlooked gem arrived courtesy of PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation) in February of 1945. The film stars The Maddest Doctor of Them All (Lionel Atwill) coupled with the formidable talent of The Man with Neon Eyes (George Zucco). At the very beginning of this film we also spot actor Ian Keith who was under strong consideration to portray the evil Count in Universal Pictures' landmark DRACULA of 1931; additionally the same studio was considering Keith to portray Count Dracula in their 1948 monsterfest ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN! Along with this actor appears Jerome Cohen, who had previously worked as Bogart's partner in THE MALTESE FALCON (1941). Veda Ann Borg and Jacqueline DeWit fill out the rest of the cast, looking fetching and keep the action going.

Alpha Video has surprised this reviewer with a DVD of some better quality, the only problem being the extremely contrasty shots and scenes here and there. When the film goes dark, the picture is nearly midnight, which is unfortunate in that this product looks superior in every way to the VHS tape version issued by Liberty Home Video back in 1997. Certainly the folks at Alpha Video have access to an enormous amount of product and need the assurance that most of us would welcome better quality at a few dollars more. Once again their cover art is unsurpassed yet at the retail price of $7.95 most of us would rather go for quality over quantity.

FOG ISLAND is an enjoyable retelling of "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie with a dash of Universal Pictures' HORROR ISLAND as a vehicle for the talents of Atwill and Zucco. These two appeared in two other pictures together: HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944) and another entitled THREE COMRADES (1938). An old dark house tale transposed to an island, the film is somewhat stage bound yet conveys a charm and innocence all its own. Of course the manor on the edge of the sea is equipped with sliding panels, secret passageways, skulls, suits of armor, an imposing organ and the requisite phony psychic dispensing astrological advice, actress DeWitt in a turban! This actress had specialized playing hard-boiled floozies and the like and she's very amusing here!

Zucco stars as Leo Grainger who has summoned a group of shady characters who had framed him years before. Of course he has arranged for the timely demise of each of the half-dozen or so victims-to-be in the appropriately spooky seaside manor. Atwill portrays Alec Ritchfield with his usual villainous style. A year after this film, the great Lionel passed away; no other actor in film history has come along to dethrone him nor does this reviewer believe one ever shall. Hollywood lost one of its great originals of all time.

The musical score by Karl Hajos is atmospheric and punctuates perfectly the nefarious activities throughout. The composer's output was phenomenally prolific but one should note and give credit to Hajos as he scored the immortal WEREWOLF OF LONDON for Universal in 1935!

Director Terry O. Morse was also responsible for helming the American version of GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS (1954), UNKNOWN WORLD (1951), SHADOWS OVER CHINATOWN (1946) and BRITISH INTELLIGENCE (1940). Morse wore a number of hats in the industry and acted as Editor on such memorable genre projects as ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964) and CURUCU, BEAST OF THE AMAZON (1955).

The DVD is in divine black and white, clocks in at 70 minutes and has six chapter stops. The sole extra is the Alpha Video catalogue in its entirety, fully showcasing the spectacular artwork of their product. Thumbs up on this one, Alpha Video!

Rating:
Summary: Atmpspheric standout
Review: Ultra-low budget production company PRC managed to create real atmosphere thanks to decent sets and a uniformly excellent cast, toplined by Zucco and Atwill. Even the romantic leads are not wooden, as is so often the case. The storyline, although a bit over the top, none the less zips right along, holding one's interest until the darkly happy ending.

Rating:
Summary: Atmpspheric standout
Review: Ultra-low budget production company PRC managed to create real atmosphere thanks to decent sets and a uniformly excellent cast, toplined by Zucco and Atwill. Even the romantic leads are not wooden, as is so often the case. The storyline, although a bit over the top, none the less zips right along, holding one's interest until the darkly happy ending.

Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER LOW BUDGET PRC FLICK
Review: While films by PRC and MOnogram were poverty row films they've really been gaining in popularity over the years as horror/mystery fans have come to appreciate what these studios were able to do on shoestring budgets, as well as appreciating the work by actors such as Lugosi, Zucco, Atwill, Karloff, and others.

This film teams two of the above named actors, Lionel Atwill and George Zucco. This would be yet another in the long line of "old Dark House" style films.

Zucco plays Leo Granger, falsely framed for embezzlement and living on Fog Island with his stepdaughter. He invites the four people who framed him, one of which is responsible for the murder of Granger's wife, to the island. The only reason they decide to go to the former pirate hideaway, is that they, along with Granger's former cellmate, believe that somewhere in the house is a stash of money, Granger accumulated.

One of the four, Kingsley, is the son of the recently deceased person who framed Granger, and is only there for Gail, the step-daughter. At the island, Granger gives each a clue to ultimately get "what's coming to them", and he waits to see how the group's greed will get the best of them.

The creaky story relies on all of the characters being murderously greedy, and this is the kind of movie where booby traps exist alongside secret passages and hidden compartments. Did houses like this really exist anywhere other than the movies?

Interestingly, although the plot comes off as contrived, it's not entirely predictable, either. It also benefits from not being overly long, clocking in at just about an hour. The presence of Lionel Atwill helps immensely.

A good PRC Flick