Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Island of Lost Souls

Island of Dr Moreau Movie Review Mishap

Last week, H.G. Wells’ nightmare vision of vivisection and overweening science, “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” came up against a Friday the 13th in the year of our angry Lord 2020. Predictably, computer and connectivity issues ensued. After a torturous hour of clawing through the innards of Facebook and Zoom, without success, Roy and I had no choice but to reschedule our – ahem – dissection of the 1977 film version until this SUNDAY.

In the interim, I have padded out my knowledge of all things “Moreau,” by rewatching the 1932 version (“Island of Lost Souls” with Charles Laughton), reading Wells’ original novel, and exhuming the Marvel Comics adaptation from my childhood. I’m not sure, however, that even I can bring myself to watch the 1996 version, with Marlon Brando wearing an ice bucket…

TO THE HOUSE PAIN! Leave your comments as we lay down the LAW on the next Facebook livestream of Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AT 7:00 EST.

There will be no show tonight, because of a scheduling snafu. However, just so you aren’t sent about your weekend with a gigantic hole in your stomach, Roy and I will pop up this evening at 8:00 EST, simply to announce our upcoming HOLIDAY SCHEDULE. Drop by for a hit, and then come back for More(au) on Sunday, if you please.

HO HO HO!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/

November 20, 2020
Dr Moreau Law & the Island of Lost Souls

WHAT is the law?

H.G. Wells’ “The Island of Dr. Moreau” strives for something more than South Seas gothic.

Translated for the screen most effectively in 1932 as “Island of Lost Souls” (which, by the way, Wells hated), the novel has never received a wholly faithful adaptation. The 1977 version, starring Burt Lancaster, Michael York, and Richard Basehart, hopes to skate by on some admittedly decent performances (especially once York begins to sprout hair) and John Chambers’ post-“Planet of the Apes” creature make-up.

Sure, the whole “Frankenstein” angle is intact, a warning against mad science for the sake of mad science, overweening brilliance courting madness and tragedy, the impetuous thirst for knowledge without long-term strategy or moral responsibility. But the story is also a political allegory, a nightmare commentary on colonialism, and a phantasmagoria of Darwinism, degeneration, and eugenics.

What does it mean to be human? Why do we need “law?” Are we indeed made in God’s image? What does it suggest when a creator lacks empathy?

I can’t guarantee that we’ll tackle all the big questions, but we will be tarrying in this inversion of paradise on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Join us for a vivacious vivisection of Dr. Moreau. We’ll be whipping you for your commentary, when we live-stream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EST.

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/

To the House of Pain!

November 12, 2020

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