[6]

An Englishman finds himself prisoner on an island where a mad doctor is mixing human and animal DNA. The fine line between what is human and what is animal is one of my favorite subjects, so I love the original novella by H.G. Wells, and I enjoy all the film versions of the story — including the 1933’s Island of Lost Souls and 1996’s version starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer. (So sue me!)  This version is less faithful than the 1997 one, but I do enjoy the fact that Dr. Moreau (Burt Lancaster) attempts to regress our protagonist (Michael York) into an animal. York does a good job conveying someone who is losing hold of his humanity. The makeup effects are pretty good for the time and I like Burt Lancaster as Moreau. My three main gripes with this movie would be the general slow-pace of its first hour, the unbelievable love relationship between York and Barbara Carrera, and the tacked-on happy ending. Still, a solid cult film.