Red-Barracuda This forgettable Italian potboiler is titled rather misleadingly to make us believe that this could be a horror film. The presence of the star-billed horror icon Boris Karloff only further cements this notion. But the sad reality is that this is a very plodding crime film as opposed to cheesetastic horror schlock. Set on an island just off the Italian mainland, it follows a policeman who is dispatched there to root out a gang of drug peddlers who operate in the vicinity. Once he arrives there a young child is kidnapped by the gangsters adding a further dimension to the criminality at play.Starting with the positives, this one does have an attractive location and it is interesting to see an early example of Italian genre cinema. So it does have some distinctive elements which set it apart from a lot of other similar types of movies from the period. However, it does have to be said that this one is resolutely lacking in excitement at all levels. This really shouldn't be so, given the set-up but to say that the potential in the material is never maximised is unfortunately no understatement. While it is nice to see Karloff, in truth he doesn't really add a lot to this one either. The most interesting character was the dog to be perfectly honest. In summary, this one is pretty much a misfire and mainly only has historical interest I would say.

TheLittleSongbird Three things do bring The Island Monster up a few notches, the title sequence music, the very well-trained dog and the picturesque locations. And The Island Monster while one of Boris Karloff's worst films is at least better than the Mexican films he made towards the end of his career, then again pretty much anything is better than those. But sadly even Karloff can't save it, he does try to bring some menace and dignity to his role but the film pretty much wastes him, he's not very well used and he doesn't even use his own distinctive voice. The rest of the acting is not much better, there is a lack of involvement and it is an acting style that belongs to another type of film really. The dubbing is atrocious, just as bad as the dubbing for films riffed on MST3K, it is true that the kidnapped girl sounds much older than she is and it's jarring. The photography is not particularly fluid and never does anything interesting. While the titles sequence music is great, the music is far too sparsely used and ponderous to make an impression generally. The dialogue is terrible throughout, made even less believable by how it's delivered, while the horror elements are very diluted(to the extent actually that there's hardly any), making the story incredibly plodding and non-eventful most of the time. Nothing suspenseful or exciting to be seen here. The characters are underwritten, poorly explored and unimaginative. So overall, a mostly dire film, there are a few redeeming elements but it is one rare occurrence where Karloff is not one of them but through no fault of his own. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Michael O'Keefe The title is very misleading if you are in a quick search for a horror flick; and especially when you see it starring Boris Karloff. This appears to be a low budget project made in Italy. Mr. Karloff appears on screen maybe less than ten minutes of the 87 minute running time. Film is very grainy and English translation out of sync. An idyllic island is not the vacation spot off the coast of Italy it claims to be. Actually it is a hot spot for drug running. A government agent is sent to find the actual location of where the drugs are being transported and possibly infiltrate the ring responsible. Karloff, the drug lord, so to speak is referred to as 'The Island Monster'. The list of players include: Franca Marzi, Renato Vicario, Clara Gamberini and Giullo Battiferri.

Ale fish Don't be fooled by the title or the presence of Boris Karloff, this is a dire Italian-made crime picture.Any virtue the proceedings may have had (and that would seem to be precious little) is sabotaged by the atrocious dubbing. It is possible to get by dubbing little known Italian players, although the young child does sound as if she's been voiced by a woman whose inhaled too much helium, but to dub Boris Karloff is beyond forgiveness. Especially when it's been done by someone doing a half-hearted impression of the great man. Plot-wise things are pretty grim too with all the clichés of the genre being firmly present and correct. There's a mysterious criminal mastermind, a smoky nightclub, a femme fatale and the requisite number of obvious double-crosses, lack lustre car chases and terrible dialogue. `It's impossible to get anywhere with you,' the nightclub singer sighs from deep within her cleavage, `you're so cool you're always sure to maintain your equilibrium.'‘Our hero' is an undercover treasury agent and I can't help thinking that he needs a few pointers in how to do the job. The first thing he does when he arrives on the scene is to visit police headquarters and go out on a launch accompanied by the local chief officers. All in broad daylight! Not surprisingly it doesn't take long for the local crooks to blow his cover, although they do fail to recognise him later on when he poses as a member of a rival syndicate from Genoa. Perhaps it was his brilliant disguise of taking off his suit!It's anybody's guess why Boris agreed to appear in this but perhaps roles were a little thin on the ground at this point in his career. On the other hand, it may simply have been that he fancied a free Italian holiday, which would also explain his presence in ‘Sabaka' (1954), a similarly eccentric choice from around this time. That one was filmed entirely on location in India. Nice work if you can get it.Finally special mention must be reserved for `International Stars Jeanette and Bob' who present the worst nightclub dance act ever committed to celluloid. Sometimes seeing is believing.It took four years for this to get a release in the U.S. I wonder why?