grizzledgeezer ...and the crypto-lesbian sub-plot. But mostly Karloff.Boris Karloff (William Henry Pratt) is one of the all-time great English-language actors. Not just for horror films, but anything.He's the undisputable master of underplaying. His delivery is always subtle, nuanced, and restrained. At the same time, he can embroider the most-trite dialog and make you believe Shakespeare wrote it. (Jack Elam is nearly as great an actor, though in a different sort of way.)The six-star rating is primarily for Karloff's performance. Otherwise, it would get two stars (just barely)."Voodoo Island" would make a great double feature with "Little Shop of Horrors" (especially the musical).

AaronCapenBanner Boris Karloff stars as professional "hoax buster" Philip Knight, who is hired by a wealthy industrialist to prove that the South Pacific island he wants to develop isn't voodoo cursed, since the locals won't work for him otherwise. Upon arrival, he, along with a fellow group of people of various occupations(played by Elisha Cook Jr. & Rhodes Reason, among others) discover that this time, the supernatural is really at work, as they encounter mysterious forces, hostile tribes and carnivorous plants. They must recommend this place unsuitable for development, that is if they can escape with their lives... Good cast(especially Karloff) can't save this silly film, though it has understandably become a cult favorite to some.

TheLittleSongbird If it wasn't for Boris Karloff, I probably would not have seen Voodoo Island. After seeing it, I do think that Karloff is the best thing about Voodoo Island, he has given far better performances but he brings a lot of class and command to his role. Elisha Cook is also good, the music is haunting and adds successfully to the sense of danger and dread and the ending is kind of creepy. Very little else works however. The cinematography is not so bad, it is sharp and looks decent enough, it's just that there isn't much that is particularly memorable and little special is done with it. The plants to put it kindly do look stupid and have absolutely nothing to do with the story or title(which was quite misleading). They don't serve much of a purpose either, they don't have much personality and the deaths(quite a low body count here) are utterly forgettable. The script and story were the biggest flaws. There is far too much talk in the script and in quality it is flimsy and has little flow. I'd forgive the slow pacing if the story and atmosphere were compelling enough. Sadly though they are not, the lack of thrills, suspense or genuine horror as well as the fact that little of it makes sense made Voodoo Island a chore to sit through in all honesty. The lesbian subplot was surprising but I am not sure whether it merged with the rest of the story or whether it was out of place and stuck out like a sore thumb, by all means it holds interest value but it leans towards the latter for me. The characters are severely underdeveloped, playing second fiddle to everything else, so we have no time to care for or even like them. Apart from Karloff and Cook, the rest of the cast don't register. And I do agree about the voodoo issue, there is little of it so you do feel that the title and story bear no relevance to one another, and the fact that the film seems to think that it occurred in the Pacific rather than the Caribbean(not nit-picking at all, this is common knowledge) is rather disturbing. I've seen MST3K mentioned here and I also agree, there are worse films that have been torn to shreds on that show but I think MST3K would think of some good material talking about Voodoo Island. Overall, not as bad as its rep but despite two good performances, a good score and the ending Voodoo Island is pretty bad. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Woodyanders Shrewd and jolly hoax buster Phillip Knight (a marvelously spry performance by the great Boris Karloff) is hired by wealthy industrialist Howard Carlton (solid Owen Cunningham) to prove that an island that Carlton plans to build a resort on isn't cursed with voodoo. Knight and his expedition team go to said island and naturally run afoul of hostile native and carnivorous plants. Director Reginald Le Berg, working from a talky and hokey script by Richard Landau, unfortunately allows the pace to plod along at a draggy clip and doesn't offer much in the way of creepy atmosphere. The competent cast do their best with the mediocre material: Beverly Tyler as Knight's charming assistant Sarah Adams, Murvyn Vye as the hearty Barney Finch, Elisha Cook, Jr. as worrywart hotelier Martin Schuyler, Rhodes Reason as rugged, bitter he-man Matthew Gunn, Jean Engstrom as the snooty Claire Winter, and Glenn Dixon as the zombified Mitchell. Karloff's classy and charismatic presence helps a lot; he brings a good deal of sorely needed energy to the otherwise pretty dreary proceedings. The scenes with the man-eating plants attacking people are a hoot, but overall there's way too much tedious filler and not nearly enough action. Both Les Baxter's shivery'n'spirited ooga-booga score and William Marguiles' sharp black and white cinematography are up to par. A pre-"Batman" Adam West pops up in a neat uncredited bit part as a radio operator. Decent schlocky fun.