Island of Lost Souls 1932

Mordaunt Hall, New York Times: Although the attempt to horrify is not accomplished with any marked degree of subtlety, there is no denying that some of the scenes are ingenously fashioned and are, therefore, interesting. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: It's a grand, hokey chiller, dripping with sex and sadism and photographed in dense, Sternbergian shadows by the great cinematographer Karl Struss. Read more

Michael Sragow, New Yorker: A tight, gruesome shocker, featuring Karl Struss's spooky cinematography and Charles Laughton's creepy portrayal of the mad vivisector Dr. Moreau ... Read more

TIME Magazine: Laughton, as he managed to do in Devil and the Deep and The Sign of the Cross, gives the role of the villain a peculiarly horrifying quality by humanizing it far beyond the demands of the script. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Not a great success at the time, probably because its horror is more intellectual than graphic, this adaptation of HG Wells' The Island of Dr Moreau is nevertheless a remarkably powerful film. Read more

Variety: Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: While the action is not designed to appeal to other than the credulous, there are undoubtedly some horror sequences which are unrivaled. Read more