The main reason my initial rating of a 9 suddenly morphed into a 10 are some of the climactic sequences towards the very end of the film in which atmospheric tension and brilliant performances collide to create one of the most evocative finales in horror history. The rest of the film is also wonderful, filled with slight eroticism and bizarre creations little seen in the American films of its day. The material here may be a little dated, but it was still far ahead of its time (in terms of film history, as literary history has already presented us with everyone from de Sade to Joyce by this time) due to its unremitting weirdness and borderline surrealism. In many ways, one can draw many parallels to it and Tod Browning's cult movie legend "Freaks" which was released in the same year. Both cover similar themes, both were somewhat notorious in their day (although "Freaks" was obviously much more so), and both have that 30's horror movie feel to them in which the absence of music feeds the atmosphere delightfully.
The scene in which Dr. Moreau's beastly, but sympathetic, characters rebel against him is one of the most chilling sequences I may have ever seen in a horror film, classic or otherwise. I got legitimate chills when Bela Lugosi's performance lit up the screen with deep intensity, it is easy to mock Lugosi, but it is also easy to praise him, and one must admit that he is one of horror's most beloved icons for many genuine reasons, and that his spot among the legendaries is well deserved, particularly because of this minor masterpiece of blood curdling science fiction thrills.
This is an amazing, mostly underrated film that combines exploitatation, art house, surrealist, Gothic, and classical filmmaking seamlessly, and likely without any awareness. It's deserving of the cult following it has steadily begun to pick up over the years, and holds up well considering its age, and it's so short and entertaining to watch that this no excuse for you not to go out and see it as soon as possible. It's frightening, intense, exciting, suspenseful, odd, shocking, and, in its final moments, surprisingly somber in tone.
The scene in which Dr. Moreau's beastly, but sympathetic, characters rebel against him is one of the most chilling sequences I may have ever seen in a horror film, classic or otherwise. I got legitimate chills when Bela Lugosi's performance lit up the screen with deep intensity, it is easy to mock Lugosi, but it is also easy to praise him, and one must admit that he is one of horror's most beloved icons for many genuine reasons, and that his spot among the legendaries is well deserved, particularly because of this minor masterpiece of blood curdling science fiction thrills.
This is an amazing, mostly underrated film that combines exploitatation, art house, surrealist, Gothic, and classical filmmaking seamlessly, and likely without any awareness. It's deserving of the cult following it has steadily begun to pick up over the years, and holds up well considering its age, and it's so short and entertaining to watch that this no excuse for you not to go out and see it as soon as possible. It's frightening, intense, exciting, suspenseful, odd, shocking, and, in its final moments, surprisingly somber in tone.