31 Days of Halloween ~ 13: The Island of Lost Souls

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Hello Pulp Friends

for Day 13 of our Classic Horror Marathon I give you "THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS"!
Hope you guys enjoy it and enjoy the two extra chills below (some of you may remember the Mad Doctor series from last year :))

The Island of Lost Souls
USA, 1933
directed by Erle C. Kenton
starring: Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi

Edward Parker, a castaway in the Southern Seas, arrives on an island which is not reported on the maps. Here Dr. Moreau lives with a bunch of monstrous creatures, half human and half animal, that he has created with genetic manipulations. This is the first of four movie adaptations of H.G. Wells’ novel.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~



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Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Mad Doctors: Dr. Moreau

Hello Pulp friends :)

Mad scientist? How about those who like to play GOD? ;)

Created by the pen of Herbert George Wells, the mad Dr Moreau tries to mix humans with animals in a lost island in the middle of the ocean. The novel has been adapted 4 times for the big screen, but the best version is still the original one, "The Island of Lost Souls", 1933, directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Charles Laughton as the mad doctor. The movie was so filled with excesses and sadism that was censored... a lot!

Filmed in an expressionistic style by director Erle C.Kenton, with dramatic shadows running up walls as if darkness itself is evil, Island of Lost Souls is a marvel of storytelling, pulling back layer upon layer from the mystery to reveal the horrific truth of Dr.Moreau ’s experiments and providing plenty of suspense along the way.

Little trivia: Bela Lugosi was one of Dr.Moreau ’s “manimals.”

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
Mad Doctors & Pulp Sunday created by, ™ and © 2009 Francesco Francavilla

"The Voice of Death" (Dec 26, 1937)

"Beware of meowing dogs..."
While trying to reach Arthur, an old friend of Lamont, in the Louisiana bayou, Margo is attacked by large dogs who apparently can trick you by meawing from behind the bushes. Lamont manages to scare the dogs before Margo is hurt.

They finally reach Arthur's house which is pretty run-down and apparently abandoned. Arthur had a life-long problem with his voice which pushed him to retire in this remote area (since he believes everyone was making fun of it). The problem is that Arthur is also a scientist and, when our duo shows up to his doorstep, he seems to have resolved his "problem". The voice is now fixed, but what about his un-stable mind?
I can't help to think about mad scientist messing with nature like the Dr Moreau or even South Park's Dr Mephisto. This last one came to mind because of the apparently useless results of some of Arthur's experiments.
Those mad scientists: gotta love'em :)

Enjoy the show and have a great (pulp) Sunday!
Francesco

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